For their final episode of 2025, Dee Laffan & Oisín Davis of the Beár Bia travelling podcast wanted to celebrate Irish festive hospitality at its absolute finest - so they took a trip into town and hit up, The Shelbourne Hotel!

As one of the country's most iconic and beloved five-star hotels, the Shelbourne Hotel has over 200 years of history behind it. Praised as a Dublin city institution whose bars and restaurants are particularly vibrant during the Christmas period - the perfect time and place for some quintessentially Irish food & drinks! To get an understanding of what some of the recommended Irish food & drink pairings the Shelbourne have to offer the many merrymakers passing through its doors at the moment, we were honoured to spend some quality time with the hotel's General Manager, JP Kavanagh and their executive chef, Garry Hughes.

Recorded in the cosy confines of the 1824 Bar, we were treated to two excellent Irish dishes alongside two beautiful Irish beers.

Before we enjoyed our first pairing of the day, JP shared some remarkable key points in time around the Shelbourne Hotel before getting into some of the staggering numbers behind its meticulous operation. He himself has been there for 8 years and regards his role to be as much of a custodian as a manager. We were then treated to one of the most popular serves from the hotel, Flaggy Shore oysters and Guinness. On any given day, you can spot plates of these plump, juicy County Clare oysters in any of their bar areas or restaurant tables. Their saline sweetness is a great counterpart to the creamy hoppy notes of Ireland's most acclaimed stout, Guinness. A sumptuous and very traditional all-Irish pairing.

The second pairing was inland inspired and is a more recent addition to the menu - a signature sausage roll. Throughout his 18-year tenure as executive chef, Garry Hughes has created and overseen countless dishes, menus and banquets. With inspiration from his childhood, Garry crafted this dish as something fun yet fulfilling for the bars in the hotel as a comforting snack item. It's made with flaky butter pastry, Tommy Doherty's black pudding and pork mince, from Kells, County Meath, and Garry's secret mix of spices. The rich fattiness of the sausage roll was cut through with the citrus-forward, softly sweet Hopburgh Helles Lager we sipped with it. Brewed just across the river on Bow Street by Hopkins & Hopkins, think of it as an Irish-style lager but with a Vienna malt character. A refreshing combo to be had if you're planning a Christmas rendezvous in the hotel's Horseshoe Bar ,perhaps!

We hope you enjoy our Christmas Special episode and Happy Christmas & New Year to one & all!!

Dee & Oisín

Beár Bia is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple and on Spotify. Follow us here on Instagram.

Beár Bia Podcast Hits West Cork

With the Yuletide season now in full swing, this is the time of year in Ireland when we like to indulge a little. A mid-morning mince pie, a cheeky Christmas sambo or maybe even a wee drop or two of an Irish cream liqueur. Such are the treats we gift ourselves during the festive period. This is what inspired us to reach out to the good folk from Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur as enjoying their fine product at the end of a Christmas dinner is a tradition that we should all get behind! When we asked one of the brand's founders, Johnny Hart where we should record the episode, he insisted we head on down to the brand's number 1 account in Ireland, Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa. So a trip to West Cork was made!

We were warmly greeted by Incydoney's owner Des O'Dowd and it quickly became apparent to us why they sell more Five Farms here than anywhere else in the country. Every adult guest that checks into the hotel, the very first thing they receive is a small chilled glass of complimentary Five Farms. Des explained that this is a custom that he firmly believes in as it expresses the hotel's hospitality and their commitment to engaging with other local businesses. He then kindly shared details about Inchydoney's history, their deep appreciation for all the West Cork food & drink suppliers they're so blessed to work with and how local attractions such as the surf school help to bring visitors there all year round.

Co-founder of Five Farms, Johnny Hart then took the microphone to tell us all about their origin story. With a strong background in the drinks industry, when he set about establishing the brand, his intention was to create the best Irish cream liqueur he possibly could and to make it farm to table. His research ultimately led him to West Cork where he says the land and sea air collectively lend themselves to make the best dairy on the planet. Johnny then spoke deeply about his choice of spirit for the liqueur and the amazing bottle they have which he wanted to evoke authentic Irish rural life.

For our first pairing, we sampled a chilled Five Farms neat serve. It's silky texture and use of pot still Irish whiskey, gives it a long sweet finish - easy to see why so many drinks professionals and media call it the best on the market. Chef Alan at Incydoney took the Five Farms itself and used it to make a Pannacotta. This is exactly the kind of Irish cream liqueur and dessert paring that any restaurant in Ireland could do. Simple and elegant execution but with the finest of ingredients that merge together to make the perfect ending to a meal.

Our second pairing saw us delve into a twist on a classic cocktail, the house created Five Farms Espresso Martini. The strong coffee is a wonderful balance to the sweet and decadent liqueur. A beautiful way to introduce an Irish flavour to an internationally loved cocktail. It was served alongside a Hazelnut and Mocha Bavarois: made with Mocha Sponge, Milk Chocolate Bavarois, Whipped Hazelnut Ganache, Caramelized

Hazelnuts and Honeycomb Tuille. A true celebration of West Cork dairy in every bite, this was a slice of local luxury and the cocktail was a sublime counterpart to it.

Irish cream liqueurs and desserts just go so well with each other. Throughout the episode we stress how great it would be for more Irish bars, restaurants and hotels to replicate pairings like what we so thoroughly enjoyed in Inchydoney.

Beár Bia is available wherever you get your podcasts in

For the latest episode of the Beár Bia podcast, we hit the road for Sligo City to spend some quality time in the company of a master whiskey blender, a legendary brewer, a local oyster producer and a publican par excellence!

It all took place in the cosy surroundings of Hargadon's, a traditional gastropub and bottle shop. Co-owner Morgan Kerins was there to greet us and talked us through its great history as well as all the many elements that make this pub one of the finest in the country. They include how they source so much of their award-winning food from their own locality and how they grow their own microgreens in a nearby polytunnel.

We then set about enjoying some Sligo Oyster Experience oysters that had just been picked by co-owner Aisling Kelly's team. Served as is (but with an optional splash of Scarlet for Yer Ma, the Dublin hot sauce!), they were imbued with a soft sweetness and a slight hint of minerality that Aisling tells us comes from the Garavogue river that washes out onto the seabed.

Quite fitting that the oysters would then be paired with the inaugural Garavogue 20-Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey. This is the first release from Sazerac's newly rebranded distillery on the shores of Lough Gill. It was crafted by Ireland's first female master blender, Helen Mulholland, who was very kindly there to tell us all about its intricacies. It's a double-distilled beauty aged in a complex mix of casks – including French Muscat, French Sauternes, Spanish Pedro Ximénez Sherry and Barbadian Rum. Every sip brought on another rich, intense flavour, brightly displaying Helen's decades of experience.

To be able to enjoy this supremely well-made whiskey with oysters picked within the same locality of the distillery was a remarkable experience. And one that can be very easily replicated by simply swinging by Hargadon's in Sligo on any given day...

Not that it was our intention, but this episode could easily have been themed around "Surf & Turf" as we went from shellfish to beef carpaccio for our second pairing of the day. Thinly sliced Sligo beef fillet, sourced just around the corner from Clarke's Butchers, was dressed with Hargadon's own microgreens as well as Parmesan cheese shavings and truffle oil. The 28 days of ageing gave the beef the softest texture along with a warm umami pungency.

For its accompaniment, Bob Coggins from The White Hag Brewery was on hand with some of his Red IPA. Established in 2013 by Bob and his partners, The White Hag team not only have a world-class range of internationally distributed beers, but their taproom and annual "Hagstravganza" summer festival are both huge attractions. There was a sour sweetness to the beer that provided the perfect counterbalance to the beef; the sharp umami of the meat lingered in the background while the malt and hops of the beer worked their magic.

Tune into what is a fantastic (slightly long!) episode that relishes the bounty Sligo has to offer.

The Beár Bia podcast is available across all platforms, including here on Spotify.