Sidra: Spain’s Alcoholic Apple Cider
Washington state and northern Spain’s Asturias region have many things in common.
Well…actually, just two things in common. They both get a lot of rain. And they both grow a lot of apples.
But whereas the good people of Washington drink Starbucks coffee, those of Asturias drink sidra (pronounced SEE-drah).
Sidra is Spain’s world-famous, alcoholic apple cider. It ranges in flavor from sweet to (IMO) savory; and can be sparkling or still. Its strength hovers around five percent alcohol by volume.
The sidra-making process is relatively straight-forward. Apples are harvested, fermented for several months and then bottled. More interesting than the drink itself, however, is the way that Spaniards serve it.
The bartender will uncork a large, green-glass bottle of sidra and grab a traditional, wide-mouthed, straight-sided sidra glass. He’ll hold the bottle well-over his head with one hand, and hold the glass at knee level with the other. Then he’ll slowly, carefully, pour a four-foot long arc of sidra into the glass without spilling a drop.
He’ll then hand the patron the glass containing a mere two fingers’ worth of cold, frothy sidra; which must be drunk immediately.
If any sidra remains in the glass after the froth subsides, the patron will dump the remains into one of the many squat, wooden buckets on the bar floor and slide his glass back to the bartender for another round.
Do not—repeat, do NOT!—attempt this serving technique with a Starbucks Tall Caffe Latte. It would clearly be a case of apples and oranges. And, mostly likely, second-degree burns.
