I just had some Isastegi Cider that my local store had in it's wine section for a while. It was pretty good but very different from the local hard ciders i've had, dry or sweet. Is Cider a popular drink in the Basque Country? Or is this "American has Basque Cider, thinks all Basque people love cider"?
Kaixo anon!
Omg, of course! Cider is one important piece in our culture! In fact, until the 19th century cider was the only everyday drink for most Basques here in the coastal regions of EH because wine - produced in the plains - had to travel through the mountains via very bad roads, which made its transport slow and dangerous, which made wine so expensive only wealthy people could afford it.
Basque sailors would bring cider in their ships - water would have gone off - in their voyages to Greenland and Canada to hunt whales. And fun fact, Astigarraga (Gipuzkoa) is known as the cider capital of the world because it features a museum devoted to Basque cider and cider-making, there's one cider house for every 230 people and every 0.5km2, the highest ratios in the world.
Basque cider - in Euskara sagardo or apple wine - is flat and has no sugar added. It's made just with Basque apple varieties. It's a bit more sour than any other given cider, but in return it's more aromatic and light golden.
Cider is still an everyday drink - mostly with meals - in many Basque homes, but the cider season (from January to April) is when the cider from the latest harvest can be tasted and it's like a social event in EH, mostly in Gipuzkoa. And it's not something new! There are some theories that defend our traditional instrument txalaparta - known to be heard from miles away in certain conditions - was born as a call to cider season!
We call this time of the year txotx season! And what's txotx? Well, cider is kept in huuuuuge barrels called kupelak, like these:
Each one holds a different kind of cider: sweeter, drier, depending on the varieties used. When you go to a Basque cider house, one of the servers there will randomly shout: txotx!! and open one of these kupelak. People will stand up quickly with their glasses, ready to taste the cider and go back to eat; then, sometime later, txotx! Another kupela is open and another cider is available to taste!
Cider has to do txinparta, some sorte of "be broken", this is, the liquid has to be served from a certain distance and height, rebound first on the side of the glass and then onto the bottom, so all flavors and smells can truly be enjoyed. If you're drinking from a bottle, the same applies: it'll taste as it should when served from a height and after the rebounds on the glass. Not too cold, though! Just around 10-12ºC, and NO ICE.
Last year, EH produced around 12 million litres of cider, and its production increases every year.
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“ The last ray of light “ // Luis Salazar
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Aux frontières du Pays Basque et de Castille et Léon, au coeur d'un paysage à couper le souffle, la plus haute chute d'eau de la péninsule ibérique.
On the borders of the Basque Country and Castilla y León, in the heart of a breathtaking landscape, the highest waterfall in the Iberian Peninsula.
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