€6.45
Described as “an extraordinary balance of flavours” by a Great Taste judge, we have used cucumber to freshen the taste of strawberries and added lime to prevent it getting too sweet. We only use fresh strawberries for our cordials, picked from the field next door, so this is only available seasonally.
My son asked if he could set up a lemonade stall at the bottom of our driveway. He had big ambitions of becoming rich by selling “lemonade”. I didn’t have a cordial recipe at the time, but I knew a friend who did. It turned out it was her mother-in-law’s recipe and she kindly gave it to me.
So Alex set up his stall and, aided by his sister, sold glasses of cordial to our neighbours. It wasn’t a busy day so unfortunately he didn’t make much money. It did however spark my interest and I started making cordial on a regular basis for our own use. Another acquaintance gave me their pink grapefruit recipe which I also adapted for my own cordial and reduced the sugar content by 50%.
It might all have stayed there as a recipe for ourselves and friends if I hadn’t become involved in the parents association of the secondary school that both our children attend. At the end of summer term each year, we run a farmers’ market fundraiser. I offered to run a cordial stand instead of purchasing soft drinks for re-sale.
It was a huge success and I remember thinking at the time, that as so many parents were involved in the food business, it was actually a great way to test a product and that there could be a business in cordials. About eight months later, I was made redundant from my previous job. Destiny had spoken. Naturally Cordial was born.
