Islanders taste buds tickled by Danish cider

Wednesday 04 April 2018

A mother’s dream to bring over a new cider for islanders to try, after seeing the strong effect spirits have on young girls, became a reality over the Easter weekend.

Samantha Miles spotted a gap in the market to bring over a ‘softer’ alcoholic option for young women, after seeing girls getting drunk quicker than young men on nights out, as many opt to drink strong spirits over beer and cider.

With its elegant branding and variety of delicate flavours, including elderflower, blueberry and pink apple, she decided Mokai –  the most popular Danish cider – was the perfect replacement drink, having become a fan herself from regular trips to Denmark through her job with an airline.

After being granted a licence in January, she approached the drink brand, who she says were “really supportive” of her venture to make Jersey the only place in the British Isles to trade the Danish product.

“Everybody has been really supportive from getting my licence. The parish hall - everyone thinks it’s a lovely bottle - the shippers have been brilliant, and I’ve had help from Jersey Business, just to have a sounding board as I’ve never done anything like this before, they’ve been really supportive.

“I’ve taken my time to ensure I’ve got a brilliant route to bring it into Jersey. My paperwork is all set up, there’s no point in me going into this venture unless I could get that exactly right,” Samantha explained.

Picture: Mokai comes in a variety of flavours of flavours including elderflower, pink apple, blueberry. 

Although there were a few hurdles in sorting the logistics of importing the alcoholic drink through Europe, it finally arrived in the island last week, and had its first outing at Mimosa on Saturday as part of their Easter event, which Samantha was excited about as the bar’s clientele is the demographic the 4.5% cider is aimed at.

Following on from an Express article, which highlighted the rather unusual licence application to go before the courts earlier this year, Samantha has been approached by a number of bars, restaurants and clubs interested in stocking Mokai, which she has suggested would also make a nice alternative drink for a summer wedding.  

Samantha currently has a Grade six licence to stock and sell the product, but hopes to get a permit later this year to be able to sell Mokai at events and music festivals.

The budding entrepreneur told Express that while setting up her new business someone told her, “If you believe in a product and you like it, you should go for it." It's a phrase that rang true with Samantha. She hopes other drinkers will enjoy Mokai just as much as she does, and that it will provide an alternative to stronger spirits.