Name: Gin-sling
Ingredients: 2 slices of lemon; 3 lumps of loaf sugar; shaved ice; ⅓ cup old gin

Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Gin-sling

Ingredients

2 slices of lemon
3 lumps of loaf sugar
shaved ice
⅓ cup old gin

Directions

Place the lemon slices and sugar in a tumbler.
Fill the tumbler to the brim with shaved ice.
Add the old gin and stir well.
Suck the drink through a straw.

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.

Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + gintop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together344 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lemon + gintop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together306 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Lemon and sugar 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

Old gin: Provides the spirit base and alcoholic strength that defines the drink.
Loaf sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the gin and the sharpness of the lemon.
Lemon: Adds acidity and aromatic citrus oils that brighten the drink.