Why it works: Sugar and currant 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 ↓
Recipe for Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Strain the currants to extract the juice.
Combine the currant juice, water, and sugar in a large container.
Stir well and let it sit for 24 hours without stirring.
Ferment and bottle
After 24 hours, skim off any foam and place the mixture in a cool area to ferment slowly.
Allow it to ferment for 3 to 4 days until it becomes clear.
Once clear, it is ready to be bottled.
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.
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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant 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
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing the alcohol and carbon dioxide in the wine.
- Currant juice
- Supplies the fruit flavour and acidity that shape the finished wine.
The step that matters
Ferment slowly in a cool place. Skimming foam keeps the surface clean, and a cool spot slows the yeast so fermentation proceeds gently. Warmer conditions speed fermentation and can produce harsher flavours.
“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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