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Persian Roseleaf Punch

A chilled punch made with champagne, brandy, orange curaçao, sugar syrup, shaved ice, and rose petals.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Champagne and brandy work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 169 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Persian Roseleaf Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Dissolve the sugar in boiling water and let it cool.

  2. Once cool, add the brandy and orange curaçao to the sugar mixture.

Serve

  1. Partly fill glasses with shaved ice.

  2. Pour the champagne over the other liquors and stir well.

  3. Fill the glasses immediately and add the rose petals to each glass.

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.

  1. Champagne + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together169 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Orange + rosetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together876 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Champagne + orangetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together260 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  4. Brandy + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Brandy + rosetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together560 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Champagne
Provides the sparkling base and bright, dry effervescence to the punch.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the punch and balances the acidity and alcohol.
Brandy
Adds warm, fruity depth and strength to the liquor base.
Orange curaçao
Adds orange sweetness and aroma that complements the rose flavour.
American beauty rose petals
Contribute a delicate floral aroma and a rose note to each glass.

The step that matters

Let the sugar syrup cool before adding the brandy and curaçao. Alcohol and sugar added to very hot liquid can evaporate off some aroma and volatile flavour, and hot liquid can also dilute the drink quickly once ice is added. Cooling the syrup first keeps the spirits' flavour intact and the punch balanced.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against champagne, sugar, brandy, rose. 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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