Name: Cereal Coffee
Ingredients: 6 heaping teaspoons Postum cereal; 1 quart cold water; 1 pea-sized amount of butter; 1 pint milk (scalded if serving with milk); 1 beaten egg (optional); 2 tablespoons cocoa; 2 tablespoons sugar; ½ cup boiling water; 1 pint water

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Cereal Coffee

Ingredients

Directions

Make the Postum base

Combine 6 heaping teaspoons of Postum cereal with 1 quart of cold water in a pot.
Stir in a pea-sized amount of butter.
Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
If serving with milk, scald the milk first.
Stir in a beaten egg for added richness (optional).

Make the cocoa and serve

In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of cocoa and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Pour ½ cup of boiling water over the cocoa mixture and stir continuously for a few minutes.
Add 1 pint of boiled milk and 1 pint of water, mixing well.
Beat the mixture with an egg beater until frothy, adding a few drops of vanilla if desired.
Serve hot.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + cocoatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together643 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Butter + cocoatop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together548 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-undecalactone (coconut, creamy).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Postum cereal: Provides the roasted grain base that gives the drink its coffee-like flavour and colour.
Egg: Adds richness and body to the drink when stirred in.
Cocoa: Adds chocolate flavour and depth to the drink.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the cereal and cocoa.
Milk: Adds creaminess and softens the drink's flavour when used.