Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Ginger Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Make the liquor
Put into a kettle two ounces of powdered ginger root (or more if it is not very strong), half an ounce of cream of tartar, two large lemons cut in slices, two pounds of broken loaf sugar and two gallons of soft boiling water.
Simmer them over a slow fire for half an hour.
Ferment and bottle
When the liquor is nearly cold, stir into it a large tablespoonful of the best yeast.
After it has fermented, which will be in about twenty-four hours, bottle for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| 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.
-
Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Ginger + creamtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation and provides the sweetness of the finished drink.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Ferments the sugar into carbon dioxide, which makes the ginger beer fizzy.
- Ginger root
- Supplies the sharp, spicy ginger flavour and aroma that define the drink.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and a bright citrus note that balances the sweetness.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds tartness and acidity to the liquor.
The step that matters
Stir in the yeast only when the liquor is nearly cold. Yeast is killed by high heat, so adding it to hot liquor can stop fermentation before it starts. Cooling the liquor first keeps the yeast alive to ferment the sugar and produce fizz.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Orangefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, sugar, cream. 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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