Name: Apple Toddy
Ingredients: 12 apples (tart, red streaks or wine sap preferred); 1 gallon water; 1.5 pounds sugar; 4 tumblerfuls brandy; 1 tumblerful rum; 1 tumblerful peach brandy

Why it works: Apple and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 303 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Apple Toddy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the apples

Roast or bake the apples until soft, then mash them.

Make the toddy

In a large pot, combine the mashed apples and water.
Sweeten the mixture with sugar to taste, about 1.5 pounds.
Add the brandy, rum, and peach brandy, mixing thoroughly.
Adjust the amount of liquids as necessary.

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.

Apple + peachtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together303 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,058 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + rumtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together214 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Rum + peachtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together84 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,291 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Apples: Provide the main body, pulp and fruit flavour of the drink once mashed.
Sugar: Sweetens the drink and balances the acidity of the tart apples.
Brandy: Adds alcohol, warmth and fruity aroma that carries the apple flavour.