Trabanco Sidra Natural

What to drink when you’re on a trip and you need a break after a long day of sight-seeing in Barcelona? If you’re a cider fan, you have to look for ‘sidra’. But, if you’re in Barcelona, you have to search for bars and restaurants with Asturian cuisine as other bars most probably won’t have real cider on offer. This is how I discovered El Furacu, a traditional Asturian restaurant in the famous neighbourhood of Eixample. This is where I was served my first ever sidra properly poured from a height. It happened to be Trabanco’s Sidra Natural, which is aged in chestnut barrels.Company: Sidra Trabanco
Place of Origin: Gijón, Asturias, Spain
Apples: a blend of bitter and sharp apple varieties
Sweetness as per label: dry
ABV: 6%
Package type: ca. 100ml in an authentic sidra glass
Recommended type of glass: any glass

Appearance: pours a cloudy pale orange. No carbonation. Body is low to medium.

Aroma/Nose: on the nose is notes of ripe apples, lemon, orange and good old vinegar.

Taste: it starts dry with low residual sweetness and medium acidity of lemon and vinegar. On the mid-palate ripe yellow apples, fresh orange, grapefruit juice, a touch of grapefruit-like bitterness, a light astringent note and a yeasty taste. The finish is dry and herbal with a light watery taste and a light sauerkraut note,

Overall: after a long and tiring day of wandering the streets of beautiful Barcelona, Trabanco’s Sidra Natural tasted moreish and very refreshing. It had a lovely taste of orange and lemon with just a touch of acetic note. It clearly underwent malolactic fermentation as I could sense a distant note of Sauerkraut, meaning that lactic acid bacteria were at work. Anyway, sidra natural is in general not a cider for everyone but if you’re into Asturian sidra then trying Trabanco’s Sidra Natural is a must. I’m already dreaming of having another ‘copa’ (glass) or even ‘botella’ (bottle) of this offering. 4.5/6

Availability: very broad in Spain. Through Enobohemia, Quesosaquillino, Productos de Asturias, Despensa de Asturias, Sidra y Sidras, El Corte Ingles, La Tienda de la Sidra and many others. In Germany from Casa Molina.

Price: paid 1.75 EUR a glass at El Furacu, a traditional Asturian restaurant in Barcelona.