Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Tea Punch
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Brew the Oolong tea to your desired strength.
Pour the tea into a punch bowl over a large cake of ice.
Add and serve
Add lemon juice and orange juice to the bowl.
Stir in small seasonal fruit.
Serve chilled.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Tea + lemontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together610 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Tea + orangetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together333 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oolong tea
- Forms the base of the punch and gives it its main flavor and aroma.
- Large cake of ice
- Chills the punch and slowly dilutes it as it melts.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the tea.
- Orange juice
- Adds fruity sweetness and acidity that balance the tea.
- Small seasonal fruit
- Adds fresh fruit flavor and aroma to the punch.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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