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Drink

American, or Cider Wine

A fermented beverage made from honey, cider, egg whites, sand, and cider spirit.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Honey and spirit work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 79 recipes. Both carry ethyl benzoate, which smells sweet. The science ↓

American, or Cider Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the must

  1. Combine honey and fresh cider in a large tub.

  2. Stir well and let sit overnight.

  3. Strain the mixture.

  4. Add more honey until it can support the weight of an egg.

Ferment

  1. Transfer to a barrel and allow fermentation to begin.

  2. Fill the cask daily for 3-4 days to let froth escape.

  3. Once fermentation subsides, loosely place the bung in the barrel.

  4. After 5-6 weeks, draw off the liquid into a tub.

Clarify and age

  1. Add beaten egg whites and clean sand.

  2. Mix in cider spirit.

  3. Return to a cleaned barrel.

  4. Seal tightly.

  5. After 5-6 months, draw off into kegs or bottles.

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. Honey + spirittop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together79 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (sweet).

  2. Honey + cidertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together256 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

  3. Cider + spirittop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Honey + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Cider + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together838 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Common honey
Supplies the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol, and adds body to the wine.
Fresh cider
Provides the base liquid and the sugars and flavor that ferment into the wine.
Egg whites
Collect suspended particles as they settle, helping clarify the wine.
Cider spirit
Raises the alcohol content and helps preserve the finished wine.

The step that matters

Add more honey until it can support the weight of an egg. Sugar density determines the potential alcohol and sweetness. Testing with an egg is a rough density check; too little honey leaves the wine weak and thin, while adding too much can leave it overly sweet or stall fermentation.

“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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