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
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the currant juice, water, and brown sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Place the keg or barrel in a cool, undisturbed cellar.
Ferment and age
Fill the keg with the mixture and leave the bung out until fermentation stops.
Once fermentation has stopped, seal the keg with the bung and let it age for two months.
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.
-
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
- Currant juice
- Provides the fruit flavour and acidity that give the wine its character.
- Brown sugar
- Supplies the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Water
- Dilutes the juice and sugar to a fermentable liquid with a workable sugar level.
The step that matters
Leave the bung out during fermentation. Fermentation releases carbon dioxide that must escape; a sealed container can build pressure and burst or spoil the wine. Sealing only after fermentation stops avoids this.
“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.
More currant wine recipes
You might also like
Black Currant Cordial11 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.