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
Boil 8 cups of water.
Add 2 ounces of fresh ground coffee to the boiling water.
Boil for 6 minutes.
Pour out a cupful 2-3 times.
Return the coffee to the pot.
Add 2-3 isinglass chips or hartshorn shavings.
Add 1 large spoonful of boiling water.
Boil for an additional 5 minutes.
Let the pot stand by the fire for 10 minutes to allow the coffee to settle.
Adjust and serve
Use 3 ounces of coffee for 8 cups for stronger coffee.
If the coffee is not fresh roasted, heat it until hot and dry before use.
Add 1 teaspoon of mustard flour for every ounce of coffee for improved flavor.
Serve with hot milk or cream and pounded sugar-candy or fine Lisbon sugar.
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).
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Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Fresh ground coffee
- Provides the main coffee flavor and aroma that the boiling water extracts.
- Isinglass chips or hartshorn shavings
- Acts as a fining agent that gathers fine grounds so the coffee settles clear.
- Mustard flour
- Adds a sharp, pungent note that rounds out the coffee's bitterness.
The step that matters
Let the pot stand to settle. Standing lets the fining agent carry fine grounds down, so the coffee pours clear. Pouring too early leaves grounds suspended in the cup.
Swap the mustard
The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coffee, flour, milk, sugar):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against coffee, flour, milk, sugar. 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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