Why it works: Syrup and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,235 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Brandy Cocktail
Ingredients
Directions
In a small bar glass, combine 3 dashes of gum syrup and 2 dashes of bitters.
Add ⅓ cup of brandy and 1 or 2 dashes of Curacao.
Fill the glass one-third full with shaved ice.
Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.
Twist a small piece of lemon rind over the drink to express the oil and serve.
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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Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Syrup + brandytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together561 recipes
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Brandy + lemontop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,351 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brandy
- Forms the spirit base of the drink and carries most of its flavour.
- Gum syrup
- Adds sweetness and body to balance the spirit.
- Bitters
- Adds aromatic depth and bitterness that rounds out the sweetness.
- Curacao
- Adds orange-citrus aroma and a touch of sweetness.
- Lemon rind
- Its expressed oil adds bright citrus aroma on the surface of the drink.
The step that matters
Shake well and strain. Shaking chills the drink and dilutes it slightly with melted ice, softening the spirit's harshness. Insufficient shaking leaves the cocktail warm and sharp-tasting.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, brandy. 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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