Astiarazan Cider, its process in 4 steps

The Astiazaran cider is a natural drink that has more than 135 years of history. In its beginnings, its production process was completely handmade but as the years went by, the Astiazaran family has been introducing machinery, especially for the final bottling process with which all the cider houses in Gipuzkoa already count. However, currently much of the process of making Astiazaran cider continues to be done in a traditional way.

A few months before the start of the new season of cider 2018, at the Iruin cidery of Zubieta we have been working on cider production for weeks, which is summarized in these 4 steps:

1. Picking and cleaning the apple: A few meters from the Iruin cider house itself, the Astiazaran family has fields of apple trees. The collection of the apple is done manually both in these Guipuzcoan fields and in others in Euskal Herria. After picking, apples are selected and washed to ensure maximum quality.

2. Pressing the apple: After washing, the apples are broken in the crusher or matxaka. The raw material is broken, pressed and filtered to extract the juice of the apple or must.

3. Fermentation: The juice extracted after filtering is deposited in the barrikas or kupelas, thus beginning the fermentation stage to obtain Astiazaran's Guipuzcoan natural cider.

4. Bottling: Once the fermentation process is finished, part of the cider stays in the kupelas to be tasted at the txotx in the Iruin de Zubieta siding. However, most of the cider is bottled and labeled with the 11:11 seal that gives its name to the exclusive Astiazaran cider.

The 100% natural cider Astiazaran has a limited production and that makes it exceptional. The quality of the raw material and the rigorous control throughout its production process guarantees a unique taste on the palate that is only achieved in an author's cidery.