Why it works: Ginger and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Powder, Ginger Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the strong essence of ginger, bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, and white sugar together.
Add 1 tablespoon of the mixture to a tumbler of water and stir well.
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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Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Strong essence of ginger
- Provides the main ginger flavour and aroma.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Reacts with the tartaric acid when dissolved, releasing carbon dioxide for fizz.
- Tartaric acid
- Acid that reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to produce bubbles and a tangy taste.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acidity and ginger flavour.
The step that matters
Add 1 tablespoon of the mixture to a tumbler of water and stir well. The bicarbonate and tartaric acid begin reacting as soon as they dissolve, releasing carbon dioxide that makes the drink fizz. Stirring well distributes the mixture evenly, and the drink is best served promptly before the bubbles fade.
“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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