Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Seltzer

Analysing hundreds of thousands of recipes uncovers seltzer's optimal flavour pairings.

Seltzer immediately conjures the evocative embrace of flint and the kiss of chalk, but beneath its bitterness lies a complex symphony of subtle flavour notes, such as petrichor, brine, and hints of grapefruit that contribute remarkable depth. The magic of the kitchen unfolds when we pair seltzer with ingredients that let these nuances sing.

To illuminate these harmonies, we embarked on an ambitious journey, analysing thousands of ingredients. Each was meticulously deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, allowing us to pinpoint precisely which notes complement in both classic and unexpected ways. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the intense, bitter theobromine in chocolate syrup can awaken seltzer, and how blackberry's violic notes forge a beautiful synergy with its sharp minerality.

An ingredient's flavour stems from its core characteristics, such as acidic, nectarous, or floral, combined with layers of subtle flavour notes (outer bars). For a balanced dish, pair ingredients with a variety of core flavours, and choose complementary aroma notes for harmony.

The Flavour Code

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 Flint Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of flint is strongly associated with the flavour of violet. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a violic flavour, such as blackberry, when pairing with the flint notes of seltzer.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing seltzer with blackberry.

Harmonious Flavours Of Seltzer

Just as our analysis found that flint and pencil-lead flavour accents frequently pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the notes present in seltzer. For instance, the chalky notes of seltzer are strongly associated with cocoa and coffee-like accents.

The aroma accents complementing the various aroma notes of seltzer can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of chocolate syrup offers many of the aroma accents complementary to seltzer, including cocoa and coffee aromas. Because the flavour profile of chocolate syrup has many of the of the features that are complementary to seltzer, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Seltzer With Chocolate Syrup

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

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., Seltzer), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.