Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Lavender Water
Ingredients
Directions
Combine lavender, orris root, and spirits of wine in a jar.
Seal the jar and let it sit for two to three weeks.
After steeping, strain the mixture through two layers of blotting paper.
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.
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Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together701 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Lavender + spirittop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together122 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lavender + winetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together81 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried lavender
- Supplies the main floral aroma that the spirits extract and carry.
- Orris root
- Helps fix and stabilise the scent so it lasts longer in the liquid.
- Spirits of wine
- Acts as the solvent that dissolves aromatic oils from the lavender and orris.
The step that matters
Sealing and steeping for the full time. Aromatic oils dissolve gradually into the alcohol, so a shorter steep gives a weaker, less rounded scent. Keeping the jar sealed prevents the spirits from evaporating and changing the strength of the infusion.
“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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