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
Directions
Prepare
Bruise cochineal, alum, and sugar candy in a mortar.
Infuse the mixture in the brandy for 1-2 days.
Blend and age
Mix the infused brandy with the cider.
Stop the mixture tightly and let it sit for 5-6 months.
If fine, bottle it off.
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.
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Brandy + cidertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together404 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + cidertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Cochineal
- Provides the red colour when infused into the liquor.
- Alum
- Helps fix the colour and clarify the liquid as it settles.
- Sugar candy
- Adds sweetness to balance the brandy and cider.
- French brandy
- Acts as the strong spirit base that extracts the colour and aroma.
- Cider or perry
- Forms the bulk of the drink and carries the flavour.
The step that matters
Sealing and ageing the mixture. If the container is not sealed tightly, alcohol and aroma can escape and the mixture may spoil or oxidise. Long, undisturbed ageing lets the liquid mellow and fall clear before bottling.
“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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