Name: Raspberry Shrub
Ingredients: 1 quart raspberry juice; ½ pound loaf sugar; 1 pint Jamaica rum; optional: brandy

Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Raspberry Shrub

Ingredients

1 quart raspberry juice
½ pound loaf sugar
1 pint Jamaica rum
optional: brandy

Directions

Dissolve the sugar in the raspberry juice.
Add the rum (and brandy if using) to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
Bottle for use.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,058 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raspberry + rumtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together80 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Raspberry + brandytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together235 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-hex-3-en-1-ol (freshly cut grass green and herbaceous notes).
Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,908 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Raspberry juice: Provides the main fruit flavour and liquid base of the shrub.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the shrub and dissolves into the juice to balance its tartness.
Jamaica rum: Adds alcohol and a rich aroma, helping preserve the mixture.