During our holiday break we were able to travel to the small town of Nava, which is known as the cider making capital of the world, for a private sidra tour at the Sidra Viuda de Corsino!
The wooden barrels you see above have been used in the sidra fermenting process for dozes of years. Every couple of months the inside has to be cleaned out, so a worker has to crawl inside that tiny opening and hose down the barrels. Yikes! The opening was only big enough to fit a medium sized dog. How anyone could squeeze in there was beyond me?! But hey, people fit and sometimes get drunk off the remaining fumes of the cidra. Not a bad day at work! Ha!
In typical Asturias fashion, our group shared only one glass between us all.
We each had our own tasting of sidra but from the same glass.
Sidra: The Asturias peace pipe!
- Sidra typically comes in a 750ml bottle and needs to be drank in one sitting.
- Sidra is poured at a height of three feet in the air! This process adds a little more carbonation to the beverage. A waiter will typically lift the bottle above his head and aim the sidra into the a wide glass. Most waiters make a show of it and don't even look at the glass while pouring the sidra. Fun little gimmick but watch out, because it will splash all over the place!!
- Some siderias have pouring stations yet others have drains in the floor that absorb the spills of the extra sidra. You can smell the aroma of the alcoholic sidra while wandering the famous Calle Gascona (Cider Boulevard) in Oviedo.
- The glass is only about 1/3 filled when the server hands it to you. Make sure you drink it in one or two gulps but don't savor it like wine, it's meant to be drank more like a shot.
- It's considered bad etiquette to pour your own sidra, so the waiter will keep coming back to refill your glass. Just give him a nod or a little wink when you are ready for your next round :)
- Some siderias have modernized the process and will set a sidra machine at your table. That way, you can pour your own glass when you are ready. No need to flag the waiter down every few minutes!
- Unlike wine, sidra is made seasonally.
- This truly Asturian experience will only set you back a couple of Euros. A bottle of sidra costs less than 2 Euros at the grocery store and slightly more at a sideria.
- Most of the time, when you order sidra (or any other beverage) at a sideria, you will be served a small plate of tapas. The tapas vary, sometimes it's little sandwiches, local cheese or even our favorite, barnacles!!! Arrrrrgh!