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Drink

Honey Wine

A fermented beverage made from honey, cider, rum, brandy, tartar, bitter almonds, and cloves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Honey Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Start the ferment

  1. Combine honey and cider in a large fermentation vessel.

  2. Allow the mixture to ferment.

Add flavorings

  1. After fermentation, add rum and brandy.

  2. Dissolve the tartar and add it to the mixture.

  3. Finally, add the bitter almonds and cloves.

  4. Mix well and let it sit for additional flavor.

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.

  1. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Cider + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Cider + rumtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together44 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Almond + clovetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,605 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Honey + cidertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together256 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

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

What each ingredient does

Honey
Provides the sugar that ferments into alcohol, giving the wine its sweetness and body.
Cider
Forms the liquid base and supplies sugars for the ferment.
Rum
Raises the alcohol content and adds warmth after fermentation.
Brandy
Raises the alcohol content and adds warmth after fermentation.
Tartar
Adds acidity to brighten the flavor and help keep the wine stable.
Cloves
Contribute warm, spicy aroma to the finished wine.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (honey, cider, rum, brandy, clove):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Walnutfits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits less well
  4. Beansfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against honey, cider, rum, brandy, clove. 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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