Why it works: Mint and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,592 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Mint Tea, Juleped
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Bruise the mint sprigs in a glass using a spoon until well mashed.
Add sugar to taste.
Steep and serve
Pour boiling water over the mixture and let it steep.
Strain and serve warm.
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.
-
Mint + sugartop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,592 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mint
- Supplies the main aroma and flavor, and bruising releases its essential oils into the water.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp, cooling taste of the mint.
The step that matters
Pour boiling water over the mixture and let it steep. Water that is not hot enough extracts flavor slowly and weakly. Steeping too long can make the tea bitter from tannins in the leaves.
“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.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.