Name: Cinnamon Cordial
Ingredients: 1 pound of cinnamon; 2 gallons of proof spirit; 1 quart of water; sugar (to taste)

Why it works: Cinnamon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Cinnamon Cordial

Ingredients

1 pound of cinnamon
2 gallons of proof spirit
1 quart of water
sugar (to taste)

Directions

Steep

Combine the cinnamon, proof spirit, and water in a large container.
Allow the mixture to steep for several days.

Strain and store

Strain the liquid to remove the cinnamon.
Sweeten with sugar to taste, if desired.
Store in a sealed bottle.

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.

Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cinnamon + spirittop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together150 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Spirit + sugartop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together602 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Cinnamon: Supplies the main flavour and aroma, which dissolve into the liquid as it steeps.
Proof spirit: Alcohol that extracts flavour and aroma compounds from the cinnamon during steeping.
Sugar: Adds sweetness to balance the strong spice flavour.

“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.