Until I graduated high school and started working at the mall the day after Christmas, my December 26ths were filled with tackling the after Christmas sales with my mom and grandparents. We'd hit every Hallmark store in Wake County. Then we'd take on the Woolworth's at both Crabtree Valley Mall and North Hills Mall. I remember that the North Hills location folded some time before 1990 when my sister was born. But until then, we'd take full advantage of amazing deals pennies on the dollar for a variety of decent quality holiday stuff that nobody was willing to pay full price for. I recall that one year I was able to build a complete nativity scene with wise men, camels, shepherds and even an angel for like $5. I also vividly reflect buying the confection for today's Advent posting: Anthon Berg Liquor Filled Chocolates.
Woolworth's after Christmas sales involved the use of these metal bins in which the overstock was dumped into. There were dozens of bins. The employees would take packages of candy canes, ornament sets, and other bulk items, break them open and drop them into sections priced at 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. Every year I would dig through those bins, learning early on how to become a bargain hunter. As I dug, I would find these tiny little bottles wrapped in colorful foil. They looked like miniature versions of the colorful glass bottles my dad would keep on the very top shelf of his study.
I asked my mom what they were and she told me that they were chocolates filled with liquid that tasted like alcohol. I asked her is I could buy some as I had accumulated some money from distant relatives as Christmas gifts the day before. My mom said it was okay since it wasn't really alcohol. So over the course of the next hour or so, I dug through bins until I found one of every variety of those chocolates I could find. I usually found about 10 or 12 different ones each year. As each one was priced at 10 cents each, it only set me back about a $1.25 with tax at the most.
On the ride home, I would always unwrap my favorite one first to devour on the ride to our next destination, which was more often than not, Crabtree Mall. I loved the silver foil versions that bored the image of a colorful man dressed in red and yellow standing in front of what was clearly the London skyline. (Thank you, Disney's Peter Pan!) The bottle brand was called Beefeater and it promised to taste like a strange brew called gin. Only what my mom didn't know was that there really was alcohol in those chocolates. 4-5% proof alcohol!!!
I was annually buying liqour at a age of anywhere from probably 7-12 years of age. I wasn't being carded. No cashier ever seemed to raise an eyebrow. And considering how much of a teetotaling Baptist my mother was, if she knew that these chocolates really contained alcohol, there would be no way in the world she'd let me buy them!
.webp)
These days, there's nothing to stop me from purchasing these liquor filled delights. Except for not being able to find them anywhere! The one shop that carried them closed several years ago. I tried ordering some through the mail. That was a disaster as they came half broken and with the liqueur all dried up into this hard sugar crust. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm up for a quick drive because I really miss not having these boozy confections.
For Today's Advent present, let's take a look at how liqueur is made. Next to Beefeater, my favorite of the Anthon Berg chocolates is Cointreau which is orange flavored. So naturally, I am sharing a video on how Orange liqueur is made.
Enjoy!
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