Name: Claret Cup
Ingredients: 1 bottle of claret; ⅓ cup of curaçao; 4⅓ cups of brandy; 2 bottles of lemonade; 2 bottles of soda water; 4 tablespoons of sifted sugar; fine parings of lemon peel; a spray of borage; 1 lb. of ice

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 ↓

Claret Cup

Ingredients

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a large pitcher.
Stand the mixture in ice for 15 minutes before serving.

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.

Lemon + boragetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together102 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Brandy + boragetop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together72 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy + lemontop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,351 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Claret: Forms the wine base and supplies the drink's main flavor and tannin.
Brandy: Adds alcohol strength and a warm, rich backbone to the punch.
Curaçao: Adds orange sweetness and aroma that complement the wine.
Lemonade: Contributes sweetness and acidity that balance the wine and spirits.
Soda water: Dilutes the mixture and adds light fizz.