Why it works: Ginger and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,621 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Ginger Pop
Ingredients
Directions
Make the ginger beer
Boil the ginger, cream of tartar, sugar, lime juice, and rind in 4 quarts of water for 20 minutes.
Allow the mixture to cool nearly to room temperature.
Add the claret glassful of fresh toddy.
Let it stand for 6 hours.
Bottle
Bottle the mixture in soda-water bottles.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Ginger + limetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,621 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + limetop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,332 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Ginger + creamtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Green ginger
- Supplies the main spicy flavor and aroma of the drink.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that gives the drink a tart, sharp taste.
- White sugar
- Provides sweetness and food for the yeast during fermentation.
- Fresh toddy
- Acts as the starter that brings in yeast to ferment the mixture.
The step that matters
Cooling before adding the toddy. The toddy contains living yeast, which can be killed by hot liquid. Letting the mixture cool nearly to room temperature before adding it keeps the yeast active so fermentation can start.
Swap the lime
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, cream, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonfits about as well
- Limethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, cream, sugar. 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.
You might also like
Ginger Wine12 recipes
Ginger Beer11 recipes
Ginger Tea9 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 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.