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Rhubarb Wine

A fermented beverage made from rhubarb juice, water, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Rhubarb Wine

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Rhubarb Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Crush the rhubarb, ideally using a wringing machine.

  2. Add 1 pint of water for every 2 quarts of rhubarb juice.

  3. Measure the syrup and add 1 lb of sugar for every quart.

  4. Pour the syrup over the sugar and let it stand overnight until dissolved.

Ferment

  1. Transfer the mixture into stone bottles and allow it to ferment for 2–3 days, filling the bottles as needed.

  2. Let the bottles stand in a warm place for 3 weeks.

  3. Lightly cork the bottles and monitor them as they may overflow.

Age and bottle

  1. After fermentation, seal the bottles tightly and let them age for at least 6 months, but longer is better.

  2. When bottling, be careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Rhubarb + syruptop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together115 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb juice
Forms the main liquid and carries the rhubarb's tart, distinctive flavour.
Sugar
Feeds the fermenting yeast, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide, and adds sweetness.

The step that matters

Lightly cork the bottles and monitor them. Active fermentation produces carbon dioxide, which builds pressure inside the bottle. A tight seal can cause breakage or overflow, so the cork must be loose enough to let gas escape while the bottles are watched closely.

Swap the rhubarb

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits about as well
  3. Rhubarbthe original
  4. Nutmegfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup. 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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