Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Currant or Gooseberry Wine Without Boiling
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the must
Bruise the fruit and mix it with 25 quarts of water.
Let it stand for 12 hours.
Strain the mixture through a coarse canvas bag or hair sieve.
Add 56 pounds of sugar to the strained liquid and stir well.
Put the pulp into 1 gallon of water, stir, and let it stand for 12 hours.
Strain this mixture into the first one and stir again.
Cover the tub with a sack.
Ferment and skim
When fermentation begins, skim off the yeast that forms on the surface.
Continue skimming until no more yeast appears.
Transfer the wine into a cask, reserving some for topping up.
Fortify and seal
When fermentation subsides, mix 1 quart of brandy with 1 pound of honey and pour it into the cask.
Seal the bung-hole with stiff brown paper.
Ensure no vent peg is used.
Check weekly for any burst paper and replace it until the wine is clear and dry.
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.
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Brandy + honeytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together169 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (sweet).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Currant + honeytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together57 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
-
Sugar + honeytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,932 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Currants or gooseberries
- Provide the fruit juice and pulp that form the wine's flavour base.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and shaping the wine's sweetness.
- Brandy
- Added after fermentation subsides to raise the alcohol content and stabilise the wine.
- Honey
- Adds sweetness and body alongside the brandy added after fermentation subsides.
The step that matters
Adding brandy and honey after fermentation subsides. Adding spirit while fermentation is still active can stop the yeast early and leave the wine sweet and unstable. Waiting until activity slows lets the yeast finish, and the added alcohol then keeps the wine stable.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy, honey):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy, honey. 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.
More currant wine recipes
You might also like
Black Currant Cordial11 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.