Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
IPA

Exquisite IPA flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

IPA immediately conjures the evocative embrace of hop and the bracing kiss of grapefruit, but beneath its bitterness lies a complex symphony of subtle flavour notes, such as resin, pine, and hints of passion fruit. These are the notes that lend it such remarkable, resonant depth. The key to a remarkable pairing lies in understanding how these elements harmonise and interact.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our analysis reveals, for example, how chicken leg's glutamic tones enrich IPA, and how bay leaf's laurelled notes create a surprising synergy with its grassy aroma.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like maillard, floral, and herbal, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

Unlocking Flavour Combinations

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Hoppy Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of hop is strongly associated with the flavour of bay leaf. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a bay leaf flavour, such as bay leaf, when pairing with the hoppy aromas of IPA.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing IPA with bay leaf.

Harmonious Flavours Of IPA

Just as our analysis revealed that hop and pencil-lead flavour notes are often associated, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in IPA. For instance, the resinous notes of IPA are strongly associated with glutamic and fatty accents.

The notes complementary to the various aroma notes of IPA can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of chicken leg offers many of the aroma accents complementary to IPA, including glutamic and fatty aromas. Because the flavour profile of chicken leg has many of the of the features that are complementary to IPA, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of chicken leg across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with IPA.

Recipes That Pair IPA With Chicken Leg

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of IPA, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of IPA, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aromas complementary to IPA.

Which Cheese Go With IPA?

Choose cheese that infuse with its bitterness or ground its turpentine sweetness. Blue cheese and roquefort offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Parmesan add a gentle, oniony brightness, while cotija introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace cheese that harmonise with IPA's citrusiness. The addition of comté, with its subtle chamomillic notes, can complement the grapefruit beautifully, while gouda lends a savoury richness.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., IPA), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.