Name: Imperial Drink
Ingredients: ½ ounce cream of tartar; juice of 1 lemon; 2 tablespoons sifted sugar; 1 quart boiling water

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Imperial Drink

Ingredients

½ ounce cream of tartar
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sifted sugar
1 quart boiling water

Directions

Combine cream of tartar, lemon juice, and sifted sugar in a jug.
Pour boiling water over the mixture.
Cover the jug and let it cool completely.

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,640 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Cream of tartar: Adds acidity that gives the lemonade its tart, sharp flavour.
Lemon juice: Provides fresh citrus acidity and aroma.
Sifted sugar: Adds sweetness and dissolves easily into the hot water for a smooth drink.