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Drink

Peppermint-water

A beverage made by infusing peppermint leaves in water, sweetened with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Peppermint and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,082 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Peppermint-water

Ingredients

Directions

Distill

  1. Gather peppermint when fully grown and before it seeds.

  2. Cut it up and place it in a still, covering it with water.

  3. Set the still over a good fire; once it starts to drop, move it slightly to the side for a clearer and stronger liquid.

  4. Bottle the liquid when cold and cork it after it has stood for a day or two.

Make by oil

  1. Alternatively, boil 3 quarts of water and let it cool to lukewarm.

  2. Pour in three pennyworth of oil of peppermint and sweeten with loaf sugar to taste. Stir until completely cold, then bottle.

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. Peppermint + sugartop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,082 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

Peppermint leaves
Provide the main aroma and flavour of the water.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness, adjusted to taste.

The step that matters

Moving the still off the direct heat once it starts to drop. Keeping the still slightly to the side as liquid begins to drip helps avoid scorching and carrying over harsh, cloudy material, giving a clearer and stronger liquid.

“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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