Contact Us

We’re here to help, so hit us on any of the channels below or scroll on down for the contact form.

Email
BARCELONA BOATS Email
san sebastian surf Email
Phone
WhatsApp
BARCELONA BOATS WhatsApp
SAN SEBASTIAN SURF HOUSE WhatsApp
Social





























    The Four Stages Of A Night In A Cider House

    Stokepedia

    Posted by Stoke Media Team
    7 years ago | June 1, 2017

    The Four Stages Of A Night In A Cider House

    The Basque Country isn’t just famous for its sun and waves, it’s also home to some of the best cider in the world and a cider house is definitely the best place to drink it.

    JOSEPHINE RYAN MURPHY

    A Basque Country cider house is a special place. They are a tradition that has been going for generations, and even better than the massive amount of cider involved, is the whole experience that comes along with pouring a glass of it. Any night spent at a cider house will escalate at an alarming rate from sipping ciders and discussing the difference between their fruity undertones to partying like hobbits, dancing around barrels of appley bliss.

    The Tour

    At the beginning of the night as you enter the brewery sober and civilised, the first thing you’ll notice is the smell of fermentation, oak wood and the freshly baked bread laid out. You’ll be greeted like an old friend and shown around. Generally, the brewery is set up in an old building like a farmhouse with stone walls and oil paintings decorating them. You’ll spend the night in this wide room with rows of long tables and benches on one side and three-meter-high barrels of cider on the other.

    The First Cider

    The cider in these barrels is very different to the piss-like bubbly stuff you’ll drink in pint glasses at a bar. It’s put through a fermentation process and never carbonated, resulting in a vibrant yellow colour with a slightly acidic taste think apple-cider vinegar but much nicer and much more alcoholic. You’ll be brought around to each of the barrels to try them and make sophisticated comments on the various different flavours but the best bit is filling your glass up. Everyone will form a line, glass in hand, leading up to about a meter in front of the barrel. The tap is opened and a thin, powerful stream of cider shoots through the air and splashes into the first glass and probably also all over your hand. Once you’re done, you sweep it up towards the tap and away so the cider begins falling into the next glass. The correct way to drink your cider is all at once, a tradition that comes from when the cider houses just sold their alcohol to local bars and restaurants and so they would only take a shot of each to decide which was their favourite. You won’t get in trouble for sipping your cider but you just won’t be getting the full experience this way and probably also won’t have enough time between drinks anyway, so only fill your glass with as much as you’re prepared to down in one go.

    The Meal

    After everyone has had a taste of all the ciders and is starting feel their effect, you’ll grab a seat and gets served up some pretty great food. The cider houses are not known only for their cider but for their menu too. The traditional sideria menu consists of tortilla with asparagus, cod or anchovies, txuleta which is a thick-cut ox steak cooked over charcoal and to finish it off cheese and walnuts. Throughout the meal, if at any point you want a top up, shouting “txotx!” will be met with a chorus of everyone shouting it right back at you and sprinting to a barrel. It will happen so often that you’ll begin to feel like you’re at the Mad Hatters tea party. By the end of the meal the cider will have well and truly hit and everyone’s probably pretty fucked, the old Basque men running the place included and the gaps between cries of “txotx!” will become almost nonexistent.

    The End

    At this point, you’re probably covered in quite a bit of cider. An accordion is taken out to get the dancing going, acting as a perfect distraction against the txotx mania. The traditional dancing is a lot of fun, hands fly around and there’s a lot of hopping, stand next to a local and you’ll pick up the dance moves pretty quickly. Unfortunately there’s a lot of twirling involved though, which intensifies the cider confusion. Eventually the accordion player will be too drunk to go on and the dancing will die out, ending the night. There’ll be kisses and hugs and you’ll stumble out the door in a very different state to the one you entered in.

     

    If you want to experience a cider house for yourself, come join us in San Sebastian any time this summer, or extend your San Vino or Running of the Bulls with a sneaky surf and cider mission.

     


    Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

    Related Trips
    Related Articles
    Need to Know San Sebastián Information

    This is where you can find anything and everything about one of our absolute favourite cities San Sebastián and its surrounding regions. Come and get amongst it in 2021 for…

    Read More

    Reasons Our San Sebastian Surf House Is A Safe Haven For Solo Female Travellers

    Calling All Adventurous Women During this pandemic it seems like we’ve all spent a lifetime in our comfort zones. We’ve watched every series on Netflix (twice), consumed dangerous amounts of…

    Read More

    Best Pintxo Bars in San Sebastián

    San Sebastián has often been hailed as the gastronomical capital of Europe – that is until our froggy friends over in Paris nicked the title off them a couple of…

    Read More

    The Cider House Rules – the Stoke Travel Guide to Navigating a Basque Sidra House

    If you’re searching for information on the late 90s Tobey Maguire Oscar-winning film, then I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere. But if you’re wanting to find out what exactly…

    Read More

    How to Make the Most of San Sebastian’s “La Semana Grande”

    Who said culture had to be boring?  Get the dates right  San Sebastian’s La Semana Grande, or, The Big Week for us English speakers, is a week-long fiesta throughout the…

    Read More

    How To Choose The Perfect Surf Camp

    Of course the perfect surf camp for us is our San Sebastian Surf House, with the best waves in Europe easily accessed from our converted Basque farmhouse in the mountains….

    Read More

    A Hiker’s Guide to Stoke’s Spanish Camps

    Spain…It’s the land of flamenco, fiestas, tapas, sun, sea, sangria, siestas and, eh, Stoke’s Spanish Summer Camps! Unknown to many, however, Spain is also home to a fair amount of…

    Read More

    What to Pack for a European Summer with Stoke

    Your European summer has finally arrived.  Like the absolute sesh savage you are, you’ve booked a few of Stoke’s epic summer packages.  Your suitcase is already stuffed with your cheekiest…

    Read More

    Introducing Stoke Summer Camps: A Playground for Adults

    “This one time… at Stoke Summer camp…” How does the rest of that line go? Yes! Stoke Travel bring you it’s own version of summer camps – like the band…

    Read More

    Last Minute Checklist For Summer 2019

    A helping hand from Stoke to make sure you’re prepared for what this summer has in store. JOSEPHINE RYAN MURPHY Summer really is finally, almost here. Flights have been booked,…

    Read More

    The Chosen One Does: San Sebastian Surf Camp

    Every year Stoke Travel chooses a Chosen One, a lucky legend who travels with us all summer long with the mission to simply have as much fun as possible, help…

    Read More

    REPORT: San Sebastian Surf Camp Actually In Real House

    Reports have come out of San Sebastian, in Spain’s Basque Country, claiming that Stoke Travel’s Surf Camp there isn’t in tents, but in a real-life house with really real beds….

    Read More

    Search Stoke Travel Search by Trip, Destination, Month...