# Coal Region Champagne



## timstalltaletav (Dec 10, 2016)

The Christmas season means one thing in northeast PA...  Boilo!  This sweet elixir is great to warm you up on a cold day.  My grandparents swore it also had medicinal qualities.  I personally think it's just after a few nips of the high test alcohol in it, you forget about what was ailing you...

There are a million different recipes for how to make this stuff.  Here's mine:

In a stock pot mix the following:

1 12oz box of raisins
1 40oz jar of clover honey (any honey works, we usually only see clover honey around here in big bottles)
1/2t of whole cloves
1t of Carraway seeds
1/2t of whole all spice berries
5 or 6 cinnamon sticks
About 1 pint of water 

Then peel and quarter 3 or 4 oranges and squeeze the juice into the mixture, throw the orange pulp into the pot too after squeezing.  Do the same with 3 or 4 lemons.

Set the whole thing on low heat and just bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.   During this time I use my potato masher to squeeze out all of the juice from the oranges and lemons. 

Note:  Even though it's called Boilo the process doesn't see the mixture coming to a hard boil.  A soft simmer is all you want.

Here's a pic of my first batch












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__ timstalltaletav
__ Dec 10, 2016






Note:  one of the lemons was being stubborn when I tried to peel it so I just cut it in half, juiced it and threw it in the pot.  If you throw too many rinds in the pot, the mix can get bitter.

After about 30 minutes of a simmer, turn off the stove and let the mix cool a bit.  Then filter the mix into another pot, I use the funnel from my turkey fryer for this, it works great.













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__ timstalltaletav
__ Dec 10, 2016






The fine mesh that snaps into the base of the funnel captures all the solids.


Now the fun part, any cheap whiskey is recommended for Boilo.  I use Four Queens, it's 101 proof and costs 8 bucks a bottle.  Something a bit higher proof increases the "medicinal" properties so I usually throw 2 cups of shine in too (Everclear would work here too).  CAUTION:  DO NOT PUT THE ALCOHOL ANYWHERE AROUND THE STOVE FLAME/ELECTRIC BURNER, IT WILL CATCH ON FIRE.













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__ timstalltaletav
__ Dec 10, 2016






The trick here is to let the filtered mix cool down below 170°.  Alcohol evaporates at 173° so there's no sense in dumping the good stuff in and burning off the alcohol. After your mix is below 170°, dump in the whole of cheap whiskey (and any high test booze you might want to use).  Mix well and then bottle.  I use old liquor bottles a local bar saves for me.  If I'm giving some as a gift, I bottle some up in a mason jar.  For added flavor you can fish out the cinnamon sticks you previously filtered and put one in each jar.

To serve, warm up in the microwave for about a minute and serve in shot glasses.  People say you are supposed to sip this.  I don't have the self control so I usually just down it like a shot.  Be careful though, the alcohol is not discernable at all if you make this right.  It can really creep up on you.  A few too many of these and you might introduce yourself to the ground.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all!


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## bmudd14474 (Dec 10, 2016)

Looks like you would be nice and warm with a cup or 2 of that right there.


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