Name: Crust Coffee
Ingredients: one pint boiling water; half tea-cup cream; nutmeg; salt

Why it works: Cream and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,920 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Crust Coffee

Ingredients

one pint boiling water
half tea-cup cream
nutmeg
salt

Directions

Toast bread until very brown.
Pour boiling water over the toasted bread and strain the mixture.
Add cream and sugar.
Add nutmeg if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

63Calories

0 gProtein

6 gFat

2 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Sterrett, Laura C. 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. See the original page.

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.

Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,920 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Tea + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together202 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Tea + creamtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together463 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Toasted bread (in the method): Browned crust gives the drink its roasted, toasty flavour and colour.
Cream: Adds richness and body, softening the bitterness of the toasted brew.

“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.