Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Start the wine
Bruise the currants and raspberries if using.
In 24 hours, strain the liquor.
Add 1 pound of sugar for every quart.
Place the mixture in a large pan.
Remove any scum that rises after 3-4 days.
Press and sweeten
If using the second method, soak the currants and raspberries overnight.
Squeeze and break them well.
Rub the mixture through a fine wire sieve to extract all the juice.
Add 4 pounds of sugar for every gallon of juice and mix well.
Tun the mixture immediately.
Bottle and age
Lightly lay the bung on top.
After 2-3 days, add a bottle of brandy for every 4 gallons.
Seal tightly.
Leave the peg out for a few days.
Store for 3 years for best flavor, or 4 years for even better wine.
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.
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and brandy 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
- Currants
- Provide the main fruit flavour, acidity and colour for the wine.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the juice and feeds the yeast that turns it into alcohol.
- Raspberries
- Add extra fruit aroma and flavour to the blend.
- Brandy
- Raises the alcohol content and helps preserve the finished wine.
The step that matters
Remove the scum. Scum that rises during fermentation can carry spoilage microbes and off flavours, so skimming it off keeps the wine clean-tasting.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy. 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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