[Events] Irish Cocktail Festival 2016

The brainchild of master bartender Oisin Davis, the Dublin Cocktail Festival first appeared several years ago, and has now gone nationwide in 2016 as the Irish Cocktail Fest. This festival has simply gone from strength to strength and represents a great way to taste some of the very best Irish cocktails and spirits.

[Events] Dublin Cocktail Festival 2015

I'm literally just home from the launch event for the 2nd Dublin Cocktail Fest, courtesy of Great Irish Beverages, and I'm really enthused about some of the very tasty drinks that I've sampled. The whole event is a wonderful recognition of the fantastic cocktail scene in Dublin and the wonderful flourishing Irish distilling industry. 

La Voyage, featuring Shortcross gin, from Koh restaurant

[Listing] Dublin Wine Fest 2015

On Wednesday night, I attended the launch of the Dublin Wine Fest in Ely IFSC. Organisers Oisín Davis and Aoife Carrigy both spoke passionately about their vision for this week long festival of wine and food, and left me feeling quite excited about the events and deals on offer. 

The concept is pretty simple. Dublin Wine Fest have teamed up with over 30 Dublin venues far and wide, to create special offers for attendees, running from April 20th to 25th. In addition to some great wine deals, each venue is also offering a "Dublin Wine Experience" to complement the wines on offer. It's different in each event location, but you can expect tapas, cheese, wine-based cocktails and many many more creative options. This addition of food and extra experiences really elevates this festival with good value and enticing offers. 

Stanley's of Andrew Street

In a clever move, which I'm sure will lead to several wine-crawls, the venues have been grouped into 4 neighbourhood hubs allowing attendees to easily move from one venue to another. 

To take part in the Dublin Wine Fest you will need to buy a €5 wristband, available from participating venues or entertainment.ie, which is valid for the entire week. You then simply visit your chosen venue(s) and avail of the special offers. As an added incentive, if you vote online for the Best Dublin Wine Experience, there is a cash prize for the winning venue and a range of lovely prizes for the voters. So make sure to show your appreciation for your favourite venues. 

I've been looking through the list of offers available, and I must admit that I'm pretty impressed by the selection available. Ely Wine Bars will be using their new Coravin system to offer wines by the glass from some pretty expensive bottles. I've got my eye on a 2007 Chablis Grand Cru (€13.25/glass) along with some others.  There's a tasting flight of three wine-based cocktails at Candlelight Cocktail bar in Dublin for €10 or a glass of Godello with salmon tartare tapas for just €4(!!) at Eastside Tavern. And that's just the tip of the  iceberg.

Further details are available at www.greatirishbeverages.com or Facebook.com/GreatIrishBeverages. Alternatively follow @IrishBeverages on Twitter and use hashtag #DublinWineFest to stay in touch with festival news and updates. 

Who knows, perhaps I might bump into some of you on the Wine Fest Trail!

Food Events at Kinsale Arts Festival

Kinsale is an astonishingly beautiful part of Cork, and it's always well worth a visit. The 2012 Kinsale Arts Festival will run from July 7th to 15th, with the "Vice & Virtue" of Irish society as the theme for this year's event. It sounds like a pretty apt theme for a country that has always been comfortable with its own unique brand of Catholicism. Events will cover music, art, literature, drama, poetry, film and of course... food! 

Kinsale is well-regarded as a food destination, so it's only natural that any arts festival would have a gastronomic slant. Food is both a guilty pleasure and a necessity, fitting the "Vice & Virtue" theme very neatly. Here are some of the main events on offer...

• The Dramatic Dinner at Crackpots Restaurant invites you to explore your performance skills in a series of interactive mini plays, which will take you back to the era of silent movies. A piano plays, while movies from another era will provide a suitable backdrop. As each course is served, a savour of virtue is followed by delicious decadence, and it's up to you to decide which taste suits you best. Release your inner drama queen as each table has a script to follow. 9pm July 11th. Tickets €47
• For the Cleudo sleuths, Murder at Ballinacurra House will be your chance to shine. Prove your mettle and enter into detective mode, while enjoying your meal in the company of some zany characters as high jinks unfold. A summer evening, a family gathering and fine dining in a luxury manor home... what could possibly go wrong? Someone in the party has other ideas! July 8th - 10th. Tickets €49 including dinner. 
• This Meal Will Change Your Life Charlotte Jarive and Zelda Di Blasi want to make you happier, while  also serving you delicious dinner. Collaborating to create events drawing upon psychological research and food art, they need your help to answer some important and fundamental questions about our happiness. Come along, let them feed you and hopefully make you happy. 8pm July 6th, 7th & 8th at Long Quay House. Tickets €42 including dinner. 
• Famous fish chef Martin Shannahan from Fishy Fishy Cafe will host food workshops designed to take the fear out of fish. Overcome your fears and leave with a tasty picnic snack as Martin and Madeleine Murray (Pure Sushi) lead a workshop that will soon have you rolling up with ease. Join them at Fishy Fishy restaurant on Friday, July 13th between 11.00 - 13.00. Four half-hour sessions are on offer, with spaces limited, so pre-booking is essential. The cost - a mere €5!
• Jelly Town features a series of events and children's workshops which explore what food and architecture have in common. Led by A2Architects and PAC Studio, an up-lit wobbly jello model of Kinsale will be constructed over the weekend. Ultimately, it will be populated by a delicious population of gummi bears, pastilles, snakes and gums. Visit Jelly Town on Saturday July 7th or Sunday July 8th. No booking required, just visit the Temperance Hall between 11.00 - 14.00
• The Afternoon Tea Sessions at the KAF Pop-Up Playhouse presents three special events looking at how we live, thrive and survive. Featuring tea and cake from the lovely Lemon Leaf Cafe, it's bound to be a winner, so join in the age-old Irish tradition of solving problems over a cup of tea. Roisin Ingle will lead Tea & Sympathy (3pm July 8th), Zelda di Blasi holds Tea & Pyschology (4pm July 13th) while Sarah Bakewell wraps up with Tea & Philosophy (4pm July 14th). Tickets €15

Tickets are available form the festival website www.kinsaleartsfestival.com or by calling +353 (0)21 470 0877

Crisp Fest 2012 (with loads of crisps)

My May bank holiday weekend plans had involved getting on a plane to the US on the Sunday. Exciting as this was, I was even more delighted to receive a phone call informing me that my work schedule would change. As a result, I got to spend the whole weekend at home, a truly unexpected pleasure.  

The main problem lay in the fact that I had turned down a whole raft of invitations and events, as I had planned to be stateside. But then a late saviour from an unlikely source appeared. The first Crisp Fest was scheduled to take place at The Bernard Shaw. As someone who loves crips, this was an absolute no-brainer.

This excellent festival is the brainchild of the folks behind the Irish A Blog About Crisps. The concept is simple - come to the pub, eat some crisp sandwiches and drink some drinks. But these clever guys took it a step further by securing loads of free crisps from the likes of King Crisps, Tayto, Boxerchips and Keogh's (forgive me if there were others I haven't listed). 

The first task of the evening was to secure drinks - himself took care of that by getting two whiskey sours for €10. The second task fell to me, namely to secure a crisp sandwich for himself. This task involved some tough decision making - would he prefer the classics of Tayto or King or perhaps strike out with an alternative crisp? Tradition won out and I secured a Tayto sandwich made from the softest, whitest sliced pan. For myself, I snagged my favourite flavour (Salt and Vinegar) in the form of Boxerchips Salty Malty.

Salty Malty Boxerchips and a classic Tayto sandwich

With drinks and the all important first sandwich onboard, we continued to work our way through the free samples. First up was a bag of new kids on the block Keogh's Shamrock and Sour Cream. This was followed by more Boxerchips, but this time taking the form of a mixed vegetable variety (parsnip, sweet potato and beetroot). At this stage, bags of Tayto Prawn Cocktail were being handed out to the crowd, so we also snagged some of those.

Keogh's Shamrock and Sour Cream

The Various Veggies from Boxerchips

The only downside to Crisp Fest 2012 was the freezing cold. Even with all the lovely crispy goodness on offer, we decided to head back indoors, but not before himself got one more crisp sandwich. At this point, we were offered some handmade badges to wear with pride (which I did).

My badge of pride - Crisp Fest 2012

I think the Blog About Crisps (@blogaboutcrisps) team are onto a great idea. If there is one thing that Irish people love as much as the pub, it is crisps. It's even better if the pub and crisps are combined. And it's even better again if crisp sandwiches are added to the mix. This event could be a fantastic showcase for newer crisp brands, as well as providing an opportunity to enjoy some old favourites. 

Well done to team behind Crisp Fest 2012. Here's to Crisp Fest 2013.

All-Ireland Craft Beerfest, March 15th - 19th, Dublin

I was pretty delighted to hear that the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest will return during the 2012 St. Patrick's Festival, following a highly successful 2011 inaugral festival. I'm an enthusiastic supporter of Irish beers for several reasons, mainly because many of the Irish brews taste a good sight better than the generic mass-produced beers. 

Read on for more details of the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest...

Do you know your Bock from your Pilsner, your Stout from your Pale Ale? Discover the treasure trove of Irish Craft Beer at the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest, where over 25 of the top craft beers from around the country will be on tap at the event on George’s Dock platform from March 15^th – 19^th, as part of the St Patrick’s Festival 2012. Bringing together the top Irish craft brewers, the event will celebrate and showcase the best of Irish brewing and provide the true taste of Irish Craft Beer. Open daily from 12pm till late, the event will bring together craft beers, artisan foods and entertainment for all the family as part of the celebration of Irish culture.

The breweries involved in the event include O’Hara’s Brewery, White Gypsy, Eight Degrees, Metalman, Dungarvan Brewing Company, Porterhouse, Galway Hooker, Dingle Brewing Company, Trouble Brewing, Messrs Maguire, Franciscan Well and more.

“The art of brewing is experiencing a kind of renaissance in Ireland today with an increasing number of consumers enjoying craft beers. There are so many great craft breweries throughout the country producing world class beers and we believe the time of celebration of all things Irish provides the perfect platform to showcase their beers.” according to Seamus O'Hara of O’Hara’s Brewery and festival co-chair.

The event will open at 12pm on Thursday March 15^th and will run until Monday March 19^th, from 12pm till late daily, with live music and entertainment throughout the day including an opportunity to learn more about the history of brewing in Ireland.  Members of craft beer appreciation group Beoir (www.beoir.org) will host a series of 30 minute presentations during Friday and Sunday on "Brewing Since the Time of St. Patrick", showing how brewing in Ireland has evolved over the ages with the opportunity to sample and discuss different beer styles.

Admission is €10 and includes a souvenir beer glass. Free admission from 12pm – 7pm Thursday 15^th and Friday 16^th; admission applies from 12pm Saturday and Sunday.

www.drinkaware.ie for the facts

For more information please visit www.irishcraftbeerfestival.com, on Facebook and Twitter (@irishbeerfest)