Name: Punch
Ingredients: 2 large lemons; ½ lb. lump sugar; 1 bottle brandy; 1 bottle rum; 4 bottles port wine; 3 pints hot water

Why it works: Brandy and rum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Rub some lumps of sugar over the skins of the lemons.
Put the lemons and the remaining sugar into a bowl.
Add the lemon juice and mix well with a spoon.

Mix the punch

Pour in the hot water, brandy, rum, and port wine while stirring continuously.
If desired, substitute green tea for hot water or reduce the strength by adding more water.

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.

Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,058 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Rum + port winetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together22 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Brandy + port winetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together127 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,908 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Lemons: Supply juice and skin oils that give the punch its bright, acidic aroma.
Lump sugar: Sweetens the punch and balances the acidity of the lemon juice.
Brandy: Adds alcoholic strength and warm, fruity depth to the punch.
Rum: Contributes alcoholic strength and a rounded, sweet-spiced flavour.
Port wine: Adds body, colour and rich fruitiness to the punch.