Why it works: Ginger and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Elderberry Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Combine elderberries and water in a container; let it sit for one day, stirring often.
Transfer the mixture to a copper kettle and boil for 30 minutes.
Strain the mixture and return the juice to the kettle.
Make the must
Add 3.5 pounds of sugar for each gallon of juice and boil for another 30 minutes.
In the last 5 minutes, add the muslin bag with ginger and allspice.
Remove the spice bag and let the mixture cool.
Once cool, add 1/2 cup of yeast for each gallon.
Ferment and age
When fermentation stops, transfer to a cask or jugs, seal tightly, and let it sit for 3-4 months before bottling.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,938 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Elderberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, colour and natural tannins for the wine.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, which produces the alcohol and body of the wine.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Ginger
- Adds warm, spicy aroma to the finished wine.
- Allspice
- Adds warm, sweet spice aroma that rounds out the fruit flavour.
The step that matters
Adding the yeast after cooling. Yeast is killed by very hot liquid, so the mixture must be cool before the yeast goes in. Adding it too early can stop fermentation before it starts.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, ginger):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Turmericfits about as well
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, ginger. 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.
You might also like
Ginger Pop22 recipes
Ginger Wine12 recipes
Ginger Beer11 recipes
Ginger Tea9 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.