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Black Currant Cordial

A whiskey-based cordial made with black currants and spices, sweetened with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Black Currant Cordial

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Black Currant Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Bruise the black currants, ginger root, and cinnamon.

  2. Add all spices except cayenne pepper.

  3. Place the spices in a thin muslin bag.

  4. Put the cayenne pepper in another bag.

  5. Pour ½ gallon whiskey over the spice bags.

Steep

  1. Let the mixture stand for 48 hours.

  2. Stir the mixture occasionally.

  3. Strain the mixture.

  4. Pour another ½ gallon whiskey over the currants.

  5. Stir the mixture thoroughly.

  6. Strain the mixture into the first whiskey.

Sweeten and bottle

  1. Add 4 pounds granulated sugar to the liquor.

  2. If the cordial is too strong, dilute it with a little water.

  3. Bottle the cordial.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Black currants
Provide the main fruit flavour, colour and acidity for the cordial.
Whiskey
Extracts flavour from the fruit and spices and preserves the cordial.
Granulated sugar
Balances the acidity and tartness of the currants and adds body.
Ginger root
Adds a warm, sharp aroma and spiciness.

The step that matters

Strain the mixture into the first whiskey. Pouring the second whiskey over the currants and then straining it in keeps the fruit's extracted flavour and colour together. Stirring thoroughly first ensures the currants release their juice, so the final liquor is evenly flavoured rather than uneven between batches.

Swap the black currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, sugar):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Black currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, sugar. 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.

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