Why it works: Coffee and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,202 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
To Make Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee
Scald the coffee pot.
Place the coffee in the upper half of the pot and press it down.
Pour the boiling water over the coffee.
Let it stand in a warm place for about 5 minutes until the water runs through into the lower half.
Serve
Serve with hot milk.
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.
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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coffee
- Provides the main flavour and aroma that the boiling water extracts.
- Boiling water
- Extracts flavour from the coffee grounds as it passes through them.
The step that matters
Let it stand in a warm place for about 5 minutes. Steeping time controls extraction. Too short gives weak, thin coffee; too long can draw out bitter compounds. Keeping the pot warm helps the brew stay hot while the water passes through.
“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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