Name: Meridian Chocolate Soda
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 4 cups water; 1 to 2 tablespoons simple syrup; 1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup; ice cream (optional); plain soda

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Meridian Chocolate Soda

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

Make a simple syrup by combining 1 cup of granulated sugar and 4 cups of water in a pot and heating to boiling.

Assemble the soda

In a glass, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the simple syrup and the same amount of chocolate syrup.
If desired, add a spoonful of ice cream.
Fill the glass with plain soda from a syphon.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Syrup + creamtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar: Dissolves into the water to make a sweet simple syrup that sweetens the drink.
Chocolate syrup: Supplies the chocolate flavour and sweetness in the glass.
Plain soda: Adds carbonation, giving the drink its fizz and lift.

“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.