Why it works: Cider and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,308 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Apple Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Pour the cider into a cask, filling it about three-quarters full.
Add the sugar and stir occasionally with a piece of wood or cane until dissolved.
After 48 hours, insert the bung and place a small vent peg near the top of the cask.
Allow the cask to sit for 12 months in a cool, dry place before using.
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.
-
Cider + sugartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,308 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cider
- Provides the liquid base and the fermentable juice that becomes the wine.
- Loaf sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide, and adds sweetness.
The step that matters
Inserting the bung and vent peg after 48 hours. Fermentation is well underway by then and produces carbon dioxide. A loose bung with a vent peg lets gas escape while keeping air out, which helps prevent the cask from building pressure or the wine from spoiling by oxidation.
“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.
You might also like
Apple Cider11 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.