Why it works: Ginger and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Beer
Ingredients
Directions
In warm weather, mix all ingredients cold.
In cold weather, scald the ginger with 2 quarts of hot water, then add the rest of the cold water.
Add the yeast when the mixture is slightly warm.
Transfer to jars or bottles and securely cork them.
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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Ginger + molassestop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ginger
- Provides the spicy flavor and aroma that define the drink.
- Molasses
- Supplies sugar that feeds the yeast and adds a deep, rich sweetness.
- Lively yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing carbon dioxide that carbonates the drink.
The step that matters
Add the yeast when the mixture is slightly warm. Yeast is killed by very hot liquid but works slowly in cold liquid. Adding it at slightly warm temperature lets it activate and ferment steadily.
“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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