Why it works: Lemon and borage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 102 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Loving Cup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the peel from one lemon with some sugar and place it in a jug with the remaining sugar and the other lemon cut into slices.
Mix and chill
Pour the water over the mixture, then add the champagne and brandy.
Grate a little nutmeg into the jug.
Chill before serving.
Serve
Float the balm or borage on top.
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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Lemon + boragetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together102 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Borage + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together76 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Champagne + brandytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together169 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Champagne + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together404 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the punch and helps draw oil from the lemon peel.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and aromatic oils from the peel and juice.
- Champagne
- Adds sparkle and a light, dry wine base.
- Madeira
- Contributes fortified wine body and nutty, caramel notes.
- Brandy
- Adds alcoholic strength and warming depth.
The step that matters
Rub the peel with sugar. Rubbing lemon peel into sugar pulls its fragrant oils into the sugar crystals, flavouring the whole punch. Skipping this step leaves the citrus aroma weaker and more one-dimensional.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (champagne, brandy, sugar, lemon, borage):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Tarragonfits less well
- Marjoramfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against champagne, brandy, sugar, lemon, borage. 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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