Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Gather full ripe currants on a dry day, pick them from the stalks, and weigh them.
Crush the currants with your hands, leaving none whole.
For every two pounds of currants, put one quart of water.
Stir all well together, and let it stand three hours.
Strain the liquor through a sieve.
Make the wine
For every three pounds of currants, put one pound of powdered loaf sugar.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Boil the mixture, and keep skimming it as long as any scum rises.
Let it stand sixteen hours to cool before putting it in the cask.
Stop the cask very close.
Age and bottle
If the quantity is twenty gallons, let it stand three weeks before bottling.
If the quantity is thirty gallons, let it stand a month before bottling.
It should be perfectly clear when drawn off.
Put a lump of sugar in each bottle, cork it well, and keep it in a cool place, or it will turn sour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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.
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.
-
Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Currants
- Provide the fruit flavour, acidity and colour that define the wine.
- Powdered loaf sugar
- Feeds the fermentation and sweetens the finished wine.
- Water
- Dilutes the crushed fruit so it can be steeped and fermented into a drinkable liquor.
The step that matters
Skimming the boiled mixture. Scum rising during the boil consists of impurities and fruit matter that would cloud the wine and spoil its flavour, so it must be removed fully while the mixture boils.
“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.
More currant wine recipes
You might also like
Black Currant Cordial11 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.