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Drink

Cider

A spiced elderberry cider fortified with brandy, rum, and spices, clarified with isinglass or eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Cider

Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Cider

Ingredients

Directions

Start the cider

  1. Combine elderberry juice, sugar, and water in a large container.

  2. Add bruised ginger and cloves.

  3. After racking, mix in raisins and brandy.

  4. Add brandy or rum, catechu, sugar or honey, bitter almonds, cloves, and mustard seed.

  5. Stir well for two weeks.

Rest and fine

  1. Let it rest for 3–4 months.

  2. If not clear, fine with isinglass or eggs.

  3. Use skimmed milk for fining.

  4. Let it rest for another fortnight.

Adjust colour

  1. For pale cider, omit catechu.

  2. Omit catechu.

  3. For a light reddish tint, add cochineal.

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.

  1. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  3. Elderberry + clovetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).

  4. Elderberry + gingertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Almond + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together246 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Elderberry juice
Provides the main fruit flavour and the base of the cider.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and fuels fermentation.
Brandy or rum
Adds spirit strength and aroma to the finished cider.
Catechu
Adds astringency and body, and is left out for a pale cider.
Isinglass
Fining agent that helps clear the cider by settling out haze.
Cochineal
Adds a light reddish colour.

The step that matters

Letting the cider rest. Resting for several months lets the cider mature and settle naturally. Rushing this stage can leave it cloudy or harsh, which is why fining is only needed if it is not clear after resting.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (elderberry, sugar, ginger, clove, raisin, brandy, almond):

  1. Arrowrootfits better
  2. Sweet potatofits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against elderberry, sugar, ginger, clove, raisin, brandy, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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