Most visitors to San Fermín who encounter sidra for the first time make the same mistake: they treat it like the cold, carbonated, apple-sweet cider familiar from Anglo or Northern European drinking culture, and they wonder why locals seem so enthusiastic about something that pours flat and tastes sharply tart. The two things are not the same drink. Natural sidra, known in Basque as sagardoa, is a dry, lightly effervescent fermented apple cider at roughly 5 to 6 percent alcohol, made without added sugar, artificial carbonation, or commercial yeast. What carbonation it carries develops naturally during fermentation and dissipates quickly once poured. The pour from a height is not ceremony for its own sake: it is the technique by which a flat, sediment-carrying cider is aerated in the moment of serving to release its aromas, wake its flavors, and deliver the version of the drink that is worth drinking.
If you do not know this, you will drink it wrong, conclude it is unremarkable, and move on. What you lose is more than a pleasant experience. Sidra and sagardoa carry the oldest continuous drinking culture in Spain, one that predates Castilian wine culture by centuries, connects two distinct northern Spanish traditions (Asturian and Basque), and is woven into San Fermín in ways that become visible once you know what you are looking at. On any morning in the early days of fiesta, in the bars off Calle Estafeta and throughout the Casco Viejo, you will see people standing at bars holding bottles overhead and pouring in arcing streams. That is not performance. That is how the drink is served.
This article draws on the production history of El Gaitero (founded 1890), the largest surviving Asturian cider operation; the farmhouse records of Petritegi (operating since the early 16th century); the Denominación de Origen documentation for Sidra de Asturias (granted 2003 by the European Union); and the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription for Asturian cider culture, awarded in 2024. It also reflects 19 years of firsthand attendance at San Fermín.
What Natural Sidra Actually Is
Natural sidra is a fermented cider made from specific blends of apple varieties grown in Asturias and the Basque Country. Unlike commercial cider produced elsewhere, it contains no added sugar, no added CO₂, and no commercial yeast: fermentation is entirely natural, driven by wild yeasts present on the skins of the apples and in the cellar environment. The result is a still or very lightly sparkling drink at 5 to 6 percent ABV, with a pronounced tartness and a slight farmyard character that comes from the natural fermentation process.
The Asturian PDO, Sidra de Asturias, recognized by the EU in 2003, covers both sidra natural (unfiltered, with sediment, poured from height) and sidra natural espumosa (a lightly sparkling filtered version that does not require escanciado). For the purposes of San Fermín and the traditional cider culture of northern Spain, sidra natural is the reference point. It is what the cider houses serve, what locals order, and what the pouring ritual was designed for.
The apple base is everything. The PDO recognizes 76 apple varieties across three taste groups: sweet (dulce), sharp-sweet (dulce-amargo), and bitter (amargo). An experienced sidrero (cider maker) blends across these groups to achieve the house style. Asturias alone cultivates more than 500 apple varieties, of which the 76 PDO-registered varieties form the production backbone. The resulting drink has nothing in common with commercial apple-flavored beverages beyond the raw material.
What settles at the bottom of a bottle of sidra natural is lees: dead yeast cells and apple solids left from fermentation. This is not a defect. It is evidence of natural production. Traditional pouring etiquette calls for leaving the final centimeter of the bottle undisturbed. The residue goes on the floor, not in the glass.
Two Traditions: Asturian and Basque
Spain’s cider culture lives in two geographically adjacent but culturally distinct traditions. Understanding both matters because Pamplona sits at their intersection.
Asturian sidra is the dominant volume producer. Asturias accounts for roughly 80 percent of all cider made in Spain, producing more than 40 million bottles per year. Production is centered in the concejos (municipalities) of Villaviciosa, Gijón, Nava, and Siero, where the damp Atlantic climate and granite soils produce the acid-forward apples that define the regional style. The Asturian tradition is the one most associated with the escanciado pour and the culture of the sidrería: a cider house with sawdust floors where the pouring happens tableside and the culines (small servings, roughly a single swallow) move from person to person across the room.
Basque sagardoa is the other tradition. The Basque word for cider, sagardoa, derives from sagar (apple) and ardo (fermented drink). The Basque cider house is the sagardotegi, and Gipuzkoa province accounts for more than 90 percent of Basque production. Basque cider is stylistically close to Asturian sidra natural but is made from a somewhat different apple portfolio and is served through the txotx ritual: when a barrel is ready for tasting, the txotx (a wooden peg sealing the barrel) is pulled, and everyone in the sagardotegi rushes to hold a glass at the stream of cider flowing directly from the barrel. The txotx season runs from January 19 through approximately late April. In Basque, the call announcing the barrel-tapping is also shouted as txotx, and the word carries both meanings simultaneously.
The Basque cider tradition is older in written records. The first documented reference to Basque cider appears in a 1014 charter of Sancho III of Navarre. The 1134 Codex Calixtinus, the medieval pilgrimage guide to Santiago de Compostela, explicitly mentions Basques and their cider as a recognized regional characteristic. The Asturian tradition traces back even further in Roman sources: the historian Strabo, writing around 7 BC, described the peoples of the Cantabrian coast fermenting apple-based beverages rather than grape wine. The Celtic cultural substrate common to both Asturias and the Basque region likely explains the parallel traditions. Northwestern Iberia had a cider-producing culture that predated Roman contact, and the Atlantic climate simply made it the natural beverage of the region.
An additional artifact of the Basque cider culture is the txalaparta: a percussion instrument played by two people using long wooden boards, which were historically the boards from cider presses. The txalaparta was played after the communal cider-pressing work was finished, a musical tradition that grew directly from the cider-making process.
In 2024, UNESCO inscribed Asturian cider culture as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a formal recognition of what cider historians and northern Spanish communities had long understood: this is not a regional quirk. It is one of Europe’s oldest continuous food traditions.
The Cork and the Pour: How Escanciado Works
The pouring technique for natural sidra is called escanciado in Spanish, and it is the first thing to understand about the drink. Without it, you are not drinking sidra as it is meant to be drunk. With it, you are participating in the oldest drinking ritual in northern Spain.
The bottle and cork first. A bottle of sidra natural comes sealed with a natural cork. The uninitiated move is to remove the cork completely and pour. Do not do this. The cork on a bottle of Asturian sidra is typically designed with a small notch or groove: a tapón escanciador, or pouring cap, that when removed and reinserted upside down restricts the bottle opening to a narrow channel just wide enough for a controlled thin stream. This is the control valve that makes escanciado possible. The upside-down cork is not an error or a party trick. It is the mechanism. Without it, the flow is too heavy, the glass overfills, and the aeration effect is lost. A modern synthetic version of the tapón escanciador functions on the same principle and is easier to work with for a first-timer. Regardless of which version is in the bottle: the bottle does not pour freely.
The pour itself. Hold the bottle at full arm’s length above your head, label facing out. Hold the glass at waist or hip level, tilted at roughly 45 degrees with the opening angled upward. The stream of cider travels 60 to 90 centimeters through the air and hits the inside rim of the tilted glass. This is not theater: the fall aerates the cider, adding dissolved oxygen that transforms a flat, cloudy liquid into something that tastes alive. Carbon dioxide is released on contact, aromas open, and the tartness of the apple comes forward rather than sitting as a dull sourness. Serve only a culin: a small pour, roughly enough for one or two swallows. Natural sidra is meant to be consumed immediately after pouring, before the aeration fades. You do not nurse a glass. A glass that has been sitting for five minutes is not what it was supposed to be.
Etiquette. Pour for others before yourself. Never fill your own glass first. The last drops in the glass go on the floor or in the sawdust. In the traditional sidrería, the sawdust floor exists specifically for this purpose. A device called a nomechisques (splash guard) is sometimes placed at the base of the glass to catch the drops in cleaner venues.
The Campeonato Regional de Escanciadores (Regional Escanciadores Championship) has been held in Asturias since 1993, measuring participants on stream precision, distance, and technique. At its highest level, a skilled escanciador pours with the bottle behind the back: arm wrapped behind the body, bottle at the hip, the stream arcing forward over the shoulder while the glass is held out front. It is a display of mastery, not a modification of the technique.
Dennis Clancey, Founder of Encierro and a San Fermín regular since 2007, does exactly this at the post-run almuerzo in the streets of the Casco Viejo: bottle behind the back, pour arcing forward, in the early morning hours after the encierro when the rest of the city is still waking up and the adrenaline from the run has not yet faded. It is the right drink, the right technique, and the right moment.
A History Stretching Back to Strabo
The Strabo reference is not a marketing claim. In his Geographica, written around 7 BC, the Greek geographer Strabo describes the peoples of the Cantabrian mountains drinking a fermented apple beverage rather than wine. The Atlantic northwest of the Iberian Peninsula was apple country, not grape country. The terrain, the rainfall, and the soil made viticulture difficult where apple cultivation was natural. The Celtic inhabitants of Asturias and the Basque region had developed cider production as their primary fermented beverage by the time Rome reached the peninsula.
Written Basque records appear from the 11th century. A 1014 charter from the reign of Sancho III of Navarre documents Basque cider production as an established economic activity. By the medieval period, cider production in Gipuzkoa appeared in civic and trade records as an organized industry.
In Asturias, commercial production scaled significantly in the 19th century. El Gaitero was founded on May 24, 1890, in Villaviciosa, initially as Valle, Ballina y Fernández, by Alberto and Eladio del Valle, who had acquired cider-making machinery in 1888. By 1895, Obdulio Fernández had joined the ownership. The operation consolidated at the La Espuncia facility in 1900, opened its own bottle factory in 1915, and today produces approximately 27 million liters per year. The La Espuncia site is now an Industrial Heritage designation in Asturias. One of El Gaitero’s early commercial innovations was sidra champán: a sparkling, filtered cider designed for Atlantic voyages and export markets, stable enough to travel without degrading. This is the product many international consumers associate with Spanish cider today. It is a distinct product from the sidra natural poured in fiesta bars, and knowing the difference matters.
The PDO Sidra de Asturias, granted by the European Union in 2003, formalized production standards: geographic origin in Asturias, approved apple varieties from the PDO list of 76, natural fermentation without additives, and minimum production controls. In 2024, UNESCO added Asturian cider culture to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, recognizing specifically the social rituals, oral knowledge transmission, and communal practices surrounding sidra natural production and the escanciado tradition.
The Producers Worth Knowing
El Gaitero (Villaviciosa, Asturias) is the largest and oldest surviving Asturian cider operation at industrial scale. Founded in 1890, it produces both sidra natural and the internationally distributed sidra champán. The original production buildings at La Espuncia are an Industrial Heritage site. If you have encountered Spanish cider outside of Spain, there is a strong chance it was El Gaitero.
Trabanco (Lavandera, Gijón, Asturias) was founded in 1925 by Emilio Trabanco in the rural parish of Lavandera near Gijón. Still family-owned and among the more respected mid-size Asturian producers, the Trabanco sidrería in Lavandera operates as both a working cider house and restaurant.
Isastegi (Tolosa, Gipuzkoa) is the most widely distributed Basque sagardoa producer. The Isastegi farm has been making cider since the 17th century; the operation formalized into commercial production in 1984 when Migel Mari Lasa and his father, Joxe Mari, established the business commercially. Their farmhouse above Tolosa operates as an active sagardotegi during the txotx season.
Petritegi (Gipuzkoa) takes its name from a farmhouse-press built in the early 16th century by Petri De Igeldo, a man from San Sebastián who had the building constructed to house family, agriculture, livestock, and cider production under one roof. The press occupied the entire first floor of the structure. After passing through several families, the property was acquired by Agapito Goikoetxea in the early 20th century. It is now in its fifth and sixth generations of the Otaño family, currently directed by Ainara Otaño, who has expanded Petritegi’s international reach.
Where to Find Sidra at San Fermín in Pamplona
Sidra and sagardoa are present in Pamplona throughout fiesta and consumed prominently before noon, fitting the post-encierro breakfast rhythm that defines San Fermín mornings. The Basque and Navarran cider house tradition has a real presence in the city, and several establishments operate specifically as sidrerías or sagardotegis during fiesta.
Sidrería Auzmendi Sagardotegia (Calle Joaquín Beunza Kalea 17) is the Basque cider house most associated with the authentic sagardotegi experience in Pamplona. The txotx ritual, the standing-at-the-barrel pour, and the traditional cider house menu are all present here. It operates during San Fermín and draws a crowd that knows what it came for.
Txirrintxa (near the end of Calle Estafeta) is another establishment where cider culture is prominent during fiesta. Its position at the tail end of the bull run route brings significant post-run traffic in the mornings, and it is one of the few bars where a sidra natural with escanciado is completely normal at 8 in the morning.
Sidrería Chez Belagua is a smaller Casco Viejo sidrería that operates during fiesta and serves sidra natural by the glass and bottle.
For ordering at any bar: ask for una sidra natural. If the bar takes it seriously, the bottle arrives and either the bartender pours or you are expected to. Ask for a tapón escanciador if one is not already in the bottle. Take the pour at the height described in this article. Drink the culin immediately. Do not order sidra and then set the glass on the bar and walk away. That is not how it works.
FAQ
What is sidra natural and how is it different from regular cider?
Sidra natural is a dry, flat or very lightly sparkling cider made in Asturias or the Basque Country from blends of specific apple varieties, fermented naturally without added sugar, commercial yeast, or artificial carbonation. It runs 5 to 6 percent ABV and has a pronounced tartness that comes from the fermentation rather than from added flavors. It is not the sweet, carbonated cider common in the UK or Ireland, and it is not interchangeable with commercial cider products sold internationally. It requires the escanciado pour to express its full flavor. Without the pour, a flat glass of sidra natural tastes oxidized and disappointing.
How do you pour sidra the traditional way and what is escanciado?
Escanciado is the Asturian pouring technique: hold the bottle at full arm’s length above your head, hold the glass at waist height tilted at 45 degrees, and allow the cider to fall in a thin stream that hits the inside rim of the glass from 60 to 90 centimeters. The impact aerates the cider, releasing carbon dioxide and volatile aromatics that were locked in the flat liquid. Pour only a culin, enough for one or two swallows, and drink it immediately before the aeration fades. The key piece of equipment is the tapón escanciador: the cork or pour spout inserted upside down to restrict the bottle opening to a narrow, controlled stream.
What is the tapón escanciador and why does the cork go in upside down?
The tapón escanciador is a cork or synthetic pour spout with a notch or restricted channel that, when inserted upside down into the bottle, creates a narrow opening just wide enough for a thin, controlled stream of cider. If you remove the cork entirely and pour from the full bottle opening, the flow is too heavy for a clean escanciado stream. The upside-down cork is not an error or a trick: it is the pour-control mechanism that makes the technique possible. Modern plastic versions function on the same principle and are easier for a first-timer. When you see locals reinserting the cork in what looks like the wrong direction, this is what they are doing.
Where can you drink sidra in Pamplona during San Fermín?
The most established cider house in Pamplona is Sidrería Auzmendi Sagardotegia on Calle Joaquín Beunza Kalea 17, which operates a Basque-style sagardotegi including the txotx barrel experience during fiesta. Txirrintxa near the end of Calle Estafeta and Sidrería Chez Belagua in the Casco Viejo are both active during San Fermín. Beyond dedicated cider houses, sidra natural is available at many bars throughout the old town, particularly in the mornings when post-run culture is centered on light drinking, food, and the particular atmosphere that only exists in the Casco Viejo in the hours between the encierro and noon.
Every article on the Encierro blog is authored or reviewed by active bull runners with direct experience in Pamplona.