Cider Making

Hvalur is our very first homemade batch of cider, a tribute to the Basque sailors who traveled to remote destinations in the 16th century. It’s made with fresh apple juice pressed in a cider house in Astigarraga, wild fermented and matured for 2 months before bottling. It’s the only Basque style cider that we have crafted so far. 

Real cider, authentic cider, proper cider, fine cider, natural cider, craft cider… Do we need to add a label to a word that already describes what this beverage is? And beyond this, do we have a word for what’s presented as a cider and is not? Oh well, we have four so far: Pittarra, hard-soda, puxarra and shider. Do you know any other?

A few days ago, a discussion thread was opened on Twitter about the way cider is sometimes presented. Specifically, the debate originated from a photo of a competition, in which some ciders had been presented in plastic jugs, “like those used for window cleaning liquid for cars,” someone said.