Name: Champagne Fn a Punch-bowl
Ingredients: ½ cup brandy; ½ cup rum or sherry; ½ cup orange curacao; ½ cup Benedictine or maraschino; 1 small cucumber, unpeeled and cut into thin slices; ¼ cup sugar; 2 quarts champagne; 1 quart Apollinaris

Why it works: Rum and champagne match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Champagne Fn a Punch-bowl

Ingredients

Directions

Combine brandy, rum or sherry, orange curacao, Benedictine or maraschino, cucumber slices, and sugar in a punch bowl.
Ice the mixture and chill until very cold.
Just before serving, add champagne and Apollinaris.

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.

Rum + champagnetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together137 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,058 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy + champagnetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together169 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Rum + orangetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together801 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange + champagnetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Champagne: Provides the sparkling carbonation and bright, dry wine character that lightens the punch.
Brandy: Adds spirit strength and a warm, fruity body to the punch.
Sugar: Sweetens the punch and balances the alcohol and acidity of the liqueurs.
Orange curacao: Contributes orange aroma and sweetness that complement the other spirits.
Cucumber: Adds a fresh, mild aroma and subtle cooling flavour to the punch.

The step that matters

Adding the champagne and Apollinaris. Carbonation escapes quickly from warm or agitated liquid, so the sparkling wine and mineral water should be added just before serving, after the mixture is well chilled, to keep the punch lively.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, rum, orange, sugar, champagne):

Capsicumfits better
Shallotfits better
Beetrootfits better
Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, rum, orange, sugar, champagne. 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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Orange Water Ice28 recipes

Cucumber Pickles25 recipes

Vegetable Soup350 recipes

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Champagne Fn a Punch-bowl