Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Combine 1 gallon of currant juice with 2 gallons of water and 3½ lbs. of moist sugar.
After 2 weeks in the cask, add 1 bottle of brandy for every 4 gallons of wine.
Once fermentation has stopped, seal the cask tightly.
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.
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Currant + winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,323 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Currant juice
- Provides the main fruit flavour and the sugar and acids that feed fermentation.
- Moist sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Brandy
- Raises the alcohol content and adds strength and aroma to the finished wine.
The step that matters
Adding the brandy. Brandy is added after the initial fermentation has run for two weeks. Adding it too early can interfere with the yeast, while the spirit's alcohol helps stabilise the wine and preserve flavour.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy, wine):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Applefits about as well
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy, wine. 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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