Why it works: Coffee and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,442 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the coffee
Wash and pick out any foreign substances from the coffee, then dry well.
Roast
Toast only the amount needed for the occasion in a roaster, agitating constantly for even color.
When halfway toasted, add 1 teaspoon of butter.
Once roasted to a uniform dark brown, store in a clean, well-covered glass container in a cool place.
Grind and brew
Grind the coffee as needed, ensuring it's neither too fine nor too coarse.
Do not let the coffee sit after boiling to preserve its aroma.
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.
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Coffee + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,442 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coffee
- Provides the main flavor and aroma, which develop as the beans roast.
- Butter
- Adds fat that can coat the beans and contribute to a richer, smoother flavor.
The step that matters
Do not let the coffee sit after boiling. Coffee left sitting after brewing keeps extracting and can turn bitter and stale, and it loses aroma as volatile compounds escape. Serving soon after brewing keeps the flavor fresh.
“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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