Name: Hostetter's Bitters
Ingredients: 1 lb calamus root; 1 lb sugar; 1 lb orange peel; 1 lb gentian root; 1 lb Peruvian bark; 1 lb columbo root; 4 oz rhubarb; 2 oz cinnamon; 1 oz cloves; diluted alcohol (enough to make 2 gallons)

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,437 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Rhubarb + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together279 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Orange + rhubarbtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together299 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,987 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

Swap the calamus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange, rhubarb, cinnamon, clove):

Cardamomfits better
Nutmegfits better
Allspicefits better
Calamusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange, rhubarb, cinnamon, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Hostetter's Bitters