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Drink

Night-cap

A hot alcoholic beverage made with ale, brandy, cloves, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,362 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Night-cap

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a tin jug.

  2. Set the jug over the fire and heat until hot.

  3. Pour into a tumbler and drink carefully.

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.

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. Brandy + clovetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,362 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

  3. Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together17,182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Brandy and sugar 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

Strong ale
Forms the liquid base and carries the warming flavour of the drink.
Brandy
Adds alcohol warmth and aroma to the hot drink.
Cloves
Contribute a spiced, aromatic flavour to the drink.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the ale and brandy.

The step that matters

Heating the jug over the fire. Heating alcohol drives off some of its aroma and can make it boil over or taste harsh if overheated. Heat only until hot, as the step directs, to keep the brandy and clove flavour bright.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, 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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