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 ↓
Coffee Milk
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee
Boil the ground coffee in the milk for 15 minutes.
Add the isinglass to clear the mixture.
Boil for a few more minutes.
Clarify and settle
Set aside on the side of the fire to fine.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ground coffee
- Gives the drink its main coffee flavour and aroma as it steeps in the hot milk.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base, adding body, richness and a creamy mouthfeel.
- Isinglass
- A fining agent that gathers suspended particles so they settle and the liquid clears.
The step that matters
Setting aside to fine. Isinglass only clears the drink if the particles it gathers have time to sink. Stirring or disturbing the pot while it settles can keep the liquid cloudy.
“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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