Name: Mint Julep
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh mint leaves; 2 cups water; 12 sugar cubes; juice of 2 lemons; 2 cups whisky; cracked ice

Why it works: Mint and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,998 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mint Julep

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mint water

Crush the mint leaves with a potato masher.
Add water until it turns light green.

Mix and serve

In a pitcher, combine the mint water, sugar, lemon juice, and whisky.
Serve in water glasses filled with cracked ice.
Garnish each glass with a sprig of mint and a half slice of lemon.

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.

Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + whiskytop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,008 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Mint + whiskytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together41 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Lemon + whiskytop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together369 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Mint leaves: Release aromatic oils that give the drink its fresh, herbal scent and flavour.
Sugar cubes: Add sweetness that balances the sharpness of the lemon and the strength of the whisky.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the drink and balances the sweetness.
Whisky: Provides the base spirit, strength and warming character of the drink.