Name: Cider
Ingredients: 1 gallon best brandy; 1 pound alum; 3 pounds sugar candy; 1 hogshead cider

Why it works: Brandy and cider work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 404 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Cider

Ingredients

1 gallon best brandy
1 pound alum
3 pounds sugar candy
1 hogshead cider

Directions

Mix the brandy, alum, and sugar candy into the cider thoroughly.
Leave the bung out for a day or two before bottling.
Ensure bottles and corks are in good condition to prevent spoilage.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Brandy + cidertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together404 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + cidertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,308 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Brandy and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Brandy: Adds alcohol for preservation and a warm, spirited aroma.
Cider: Forms the main liquid base and supplies most of the apple flavor and moisture.
Sugar candy: Adds sweetness and body to the finished drink.
Alum: Helps clear the liquid by binding cloudy particles so they settle.

“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.