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Drink

Birch Wine

Fermented beverage made from birch tree juice, sugar, raisins, tartar, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Birch Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the must

  1. Boil the birch juice, sugar, and raisins for 20 minutes.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a tub and add the crude tartar.

  3. Allow to ferment for several days.

Ferment and age

  1. Strain the mixture and transfer it to a cask.

  2. Tie the almonds in a muslin bag and add to the cask.

  3. Once fermentation ceases, remove the almonds and seal the cask.

  4. Let it stand for about 5 months before fining and bottling.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Birch tree juice
Forms the liquid base that the sugar and yeast ferment into wine.
Sugar
Feeds the yeast, producing alcohol during fermentation and adding sweetness to the finished wine.
Raisins
Add fermentable sugars, nutrients for yeast, and fruity flavor.
Crude tartar
Adds acidity that supports fermentation and gives the wine a sharper, balanced taste.
Almonds
Contribute nutty aroma and flavor as the wine ages.

The step that matters

Remove the almonds and seal the cask once fermentation ceases. Sealing a cask while fermentation is still active can trap carbon dioxide and build pressure. Waiting until activity stops keeps the cask stable, and removing the almonds then stops them adding excess bitterness during aging.

“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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