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Apple Cider Hot Toddy

This cider-sweetened cocktail is light and warming, perfect for the holidays. The quality of ingredients goes a long way here, so be sure to use real, unfiltered apple cider (it should be murky). Locally produced cider tends to be fresher and contain fewer (if any) additives. Spiced cider is good, too.

By cookieandkate · From Open Recipes · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,042 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 1
Prep3 min
Cook3 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Bring a small pan of water to a boil, then pour about 1 cup of it over the tea bag in a heatproof mug and steep for 3 minutes.

  2. Remove the tea bag and squeeze it gently against the side of the mug before discarding.

  3. Add the rye whiskey or bourbon and the apple cider to the mug and stir well.

  4. Squeeze the juice from the half small lemon into the mug and stir again.

  5. Garnish with thin, round slices of lemon, a cinnamon stick, and a star anise, then serve hot.

By cookieandkate. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Apple + cidertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,042 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Cinnamon + star anisetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Apple + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Lemon + star anisetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Lemon + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the star anise

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (green tea, rye, apple, cider, lemon, cinnamon):

  1. Gingerbetter flavor fit
  2. Clovebetter flavor fit
  3. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  4. Star anisethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against green tea, rye, apple, cider, lemon, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).