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Beara's beach barista is bringing it all west

August 25th, 2019 11:50 AM

By Southern Star Team

The Beara Barista is near Ballydonegan beach on the peninsula, run by (inset) Gaia and Sami. (Photos: Niall Duffy)

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Beara Barista, one of a number of new businesses which have opened on the West Cork peninsula in recent months is selling what is perhaps the most westerly-located gourmet coffee and snacks, from its location in a vintage caravan.

BEARA Barista, one of a number of new businesses which have opened on the West Cork peninsula in recent months is selling what is perhaps the most westerly-located gourmet coffee and snacks, from its location in a vintage caravan on Ballydonegan beach in Allihies.

Run by Gaia Hughes from Kenmare and her partner Samî Beshoff from Allihies, the couple have had a busy few months since opening, with both tourists and locals flocking to them.

The couple first started selling coffee and waffles from an open trailer, which Gaia says, wasn’t ideal in bad weather. ‘You were outside serving in all weathers, so when we found a vintage caravan we decided to restore that and base ourselves in that.’

The couple opened on Ballydonegan beach at the end of April, and business has been very good, says Gaia.

‘We didn’t expect it to go as well as it has, and we have great local support with lots of people driving by for coffee, as well as lots of tourist traffic.’

She says they plan to stay open until the end of September and maybe into October.  ‘It really depends on the weather, but we might open on weekends throughout the winter, as we’ve had lots of people asking us to stay open.’

Gaia explains that their coffee comes from a Dublin coffee supplier and is 99% organic, which she explains is unique as most coffee suppliers can only claim a minimum percentage is organic.

As well as coffee, the menu also includes hotdogs with smoked Gubbeen sausages with harista and micro greens, and ‘Beara Buffalo Burgers’, along with waffles and toasties, and the couples tries to source as much as possible from the local area.

The beach café is open seven days a week from 10am to 6pm and they are on Facebook under Beara Barista.

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