Name: Quinine Bitters
Ingredients: 1 ounce Sulphate of Quinine Solution (4 grains per ounce); 1 ounce plain cold water; 8 pounds granulated white sugar; 1 gallon boiling water; 1 part pure cream or 1 part condensed milk (Nestle’s) to 2 parts milk

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Quinine Bitters

Ingredients

1 ounce Sulphate of Quinine Solution (4 grains per ounce)
1 ounce plain cold water
8 pounds granulated white sugar
1 gallon boiling water
1 part pure cream or 1 part condensed milk (Nestle’s) to 2 parts milk

Directions

Make the bitters and syrup

Combine 1 ounce of Sulphate of Quinine Solution with 1 ounce of plain cold water in a phosphate bottle.
To make syrup, dissolve 8 pounds of granulated white sugar in 1 gallon of boiling water.

Make the cream drinks

For cream drinks, mix 1 part pure cream with 2 parts milk, or use 1 part condensed milk with 2 parts milk for a cheaper option.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Sulphate of quinine solution: Provides the characteristic bitter flavour of the bitters.
Granulated white sugar: Sweetens the syrup and gives it body.
Pure cream: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
Condensed milk: Adds sweetness and thickness as a cheaper alternative to cream.

“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.