Name: Saratoga Cocktail
Ingredients: 20 drops pineapple syrup; 12 drops Angostura bitters; 20 drops maraschino liqueur; ⅓ cup old brandy; fine crushed ice; 2-3 strawberries; lemon peel; champagne

Why it works: Brandy and champagne work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 169 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Saratoga Cocktail

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

In a large tumbler, combine pineapple syrup, Angostura bitters, maraschino liqueur, and old brandy.
Nearly fill the glass with fine crushed ice. Mix well.

Assemble and serve

In a small tumbler, place 2-3 strawberries.
Strain the mixture over the strawberries.
Twist a piece of lemon peel over the drink.
Pour a little champagne on top and serve.

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.

Brandy + champagnetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together169 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Pineapple + champagnetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Pineapple + brandytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together298 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Pineapple + lemontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + champagnetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together404 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Old brandy: Provides the spirit base and warming body of the cocktail.
Maraschino liqueur: Adds sweetness and a subtle cherry-almond aroma.
Angostura bitters: Adds aromatic depth and spice that balances the sweetness.
Pineapple syrup: Contributes sweetness and fruity flavour.
Champagne: Adds effervescence and a light, dry finish on top.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, syrup, brandy, champagne):

Strawberryfits better
Apricotfits better
Vanillafits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, syrup, brandy, champagne. 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.