Polish Krupnik - Old Fashioned Honey And Spice Liqueur - cooking recipe

Ingredients

64 ounces grain alcohol
40 ounces honey
1 cup brown sugar
6 cups water
1 vanilla bean, split
20 whole cloves
4 sticks cinnamon
10 allspice berries
10 black peppercorns
1 nutmeg
5 clementines
1 ounce orange extract
1 -4 cup bottled water, as needed

Preparation

Place vanilla bean, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, peppercorns, and nutmeg into cheesecloth and tie with string (like a big tea bag).
In a saucepan, combine 3 cups of water with the spice bag and whole, unpeeled clementines and bring to a boil. Reduce mixture to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes. Then set aside.
In a second saucepan, combine 3 cups of water with the honey and brown sugar and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve honey and brown sugar. Reduce heat to medium, and continue to cook over the stove. As the mixture cooks, foam will form on the surface, and must be removed. The best way to do this is to use a large metal spoon to gather the foam to one side of the pot, allow it to accumulate and thicken, then skim off with the spoon. As the mixture cooks, it will thicken and continue to produce foam. Continue to remove foam as above, for about 5-10 minutes, until it stops foaming.
In a large stockpot, combine grain alcohol and both mixtures. Place tight-fitting lid on stockpot, and allow to sit undisturbed overnight.
The next day, remove the clementines and spice bag, and pour the mixture evenly into two 64 oz containers with lids (64 oz glass growlers work well, but so do 64 oz rubbermaid pitchers).
The mixture should nearly fill each container. Add 1/2 oz of orange extract to each container. Then add just enough bottled water to each container to get a total of 64 oz of liquid in each container. Cover tightly.
Allow mixture to sit in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks. During this time, the flavors blend and the krupnik becomes very smooth.
After 6 weeks have passed, your krupnik is complete and ready to move to bottles or mason jars for storage and use. You will notice that there is sediment in the bottom of the containers. Use care when moving the containers, so as not to disturb the sediment.
Use the siphoning technique discussed on http://homebrewmanual.com/how-to-siphon-beer-into-bottles/ to get a clear product into your final storage containers. It is worth the effort!