Name: Cinnamon Cordial
Ingredients: 3 teaspoons oil of cinnamon; 8 or 9 large lumps of sugar; 1 quart brandy, whisky, or gin; ½ pound sugar; 1 cup water

Why it works: Cinnamon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Cinnamon Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cordial

Pour the oil of cinnamon over the sugar lumps in a large bottle.
Add the brandy, whisky, or gin, and the sugar boiled with water to make a syrup.
Shake well and let the bottle sit in a cool place for a few days.

Clarify and bottle

Strain or filter the liquid until it is bright and clear.
Bottle for use and let infuse for one week.

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.

Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,199 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Oil of cinnamon: Provides the main cinnamon flavour and aroma.
Sugar: Sweetens the cordial and balances the strong spirit.
Brandy, whisky, or gin: Acts as the alcoholic base that carries and preserves the flavour.

“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.