Sidra Asturiana

Sidra Asturiana is bracingly dry and tart, tasting of bruised and windfall apple, green apple skin and lemon, wrapped in a rustic cellar funk from the wild yeast and a distinct lactic sourness that recalls sourdough and fresh cheese. It is hazy and still — only a whisper of dissolved gas — so the aerating escanciado pour matters: caught thin against the glass, it throws a quick foam that rounds the sharp edges and lifts a nose of wet straw, damp earth and a faint barnyard note over the fruit. There is almost no sweetness to hide behind; the drink is lean, sour-edged and savoury, finishing dry and slightly astringent with a clean acid bite. This is farmhouse cider at its most uncompromising — the opposite of a sweet, fizzy commercial cider — built to be poured a mouthful at a time and drunk cold and fast beside strong cheese and rich Asturian food.