Peppermint flavour from Northern Irish artisan mineral business

Papas Minerals, the Northern Irish producer of handmade non-alcoholic beverages, has added a Peppermint flavour cordial to its extensive range of soft drinks.

The new cordial is targeted at the growing market for cocktail mixers to flavour craft spirits especially gins. Papas Peppermint retails at £4.95.

Wayne Adair, the managing director and founder of Papas Minerals, a small enterprise based in Bangor, county Down, says the decision to develop the new peppermint flavour follows approaches for existing and potential customers for his range of handmade minerals.

"A number of customers have been asking about peppermint, a flavour that was popular many years ago. A key focus on our business is the re-invention of traditional flavours like clove, ginger wine, elderflower and sarsaparilla. We've also developed a sugar-free ginger wine," he adds.

The small company currently sells its products, which are produced in small batches in 750ml glass bottles, also include cloudy lemonade, throughout Northern Ireland and in Great Britain. Customers there include mmm…and glug, a specialist in artisan beverages at Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The minerals are produced from original family recipes without artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners. The new peppermint flavour uses peppermint extract.

Adair launched the lemonade and cordials in 2004 and has enjoyed "good and steady growth" since then.

"There's a growing interest among shoppers in traditional products that offered quality, provenance, and heritage. We are finding increasingly that people of all ages are keen to try different products from smaller producers who have total control over their production.

"Our minerals are all handcrafted and bottled using original recipes with traceable ingredients. Customers can count on different flavours from consistently high-quality non-alcoholic beverages."