Name: Claret Cup
Ingredients: 1 quart claret; 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 ounce brandy; 1 ounce Curacao; 1 ounce Maraschino; 1 ounce Jamaica rum; sliced orange; sliced lemon; 1 bottle club soda or syphon; large piece of ice; fresh mint

Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

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.

Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Lemon + minttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,058 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange + minttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together549 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rum + minttop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together139 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Claret: Forms the wine base that gives the punch its body and fruity flavour.
Sugar: Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the wine and citrus.
Brandy: Adds warmth and depth of flavour to the wine base.
Curacao: Adds orange-peel aroma and sweetness to the blend.
Maraschino: Adds cherry-like sweetness and an aromatic note to the punch.
Jamaica rum: Adds richness and a molasses-like depth to the spirits blend.