Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Currant Wine
1 gallonIngredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Mash the currants and strain through a jelly bag.
Add 3 pounds of brown sugar to the juice.
Add enough water to make the total volume 1 gallon.
Let the mixture stand uncovered overnight.
Skim the surface.
Ferment and age
Transfer the liquid to a clean keg, preferably one that has held spirits, reserving some liquid to top up during fermentation.
When fermentation has ceased, tightly seal the keg.
Store the sealed keg in a cool, dark place.
Wait 3 to 4 months for the wine to be ready.
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.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Currants
- Provide the juice, flavour and natural acidity that define the wine.
- Brown sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and shaping the wine's sweetness and depth.
The step that matters
Topping up the keg during fermentation. Keeping the keg nearly full limits contact with air, which can let spoilage microbes or oxidation spoil the wine. Reserved liquid replaces what foams out, while the keg is still open to release carbon dioxide.
“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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