Name: Claret Cup
Ingredients: 1 bottle claret; peel of 1 lemon; ⅓ cup curaçao; 2 bottles lemonade; ½ cup brandy; 2 bottles soda-water; 3 tablespoons sifted sugar; 2 lbs. ice; 2 or 3 slices cucumber

Why it works: Lemon and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,067 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Claret Cup

Ingredients

Directions

In a large pitcher, combine the claret, lemon peel, curaçao, lemonade, brandy, and soda-water.
Add the sugar and stir well.
Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Just before serving, remove the cucumber slices.

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 + cucumbertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,067 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Lemon + sugartop 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).
Lemon + brandytop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,351 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Brandy + cucumbertop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Lemon and sugar 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 that gives the cup its body, color and main flavor.
Brandy: Adds warmth and a spirited depth that balances the sweetness of the lemonade.
Curaçao: Contributes orange aroma and a touch of sweetness to the blend.
Sugar: Sweetens the drink and softens the acidity of the lemon and wine.