Asturian Cider Country

Asturias drinks sidra natural: flat, cloudy, sharp and unsweetened, made from local apple varieties that would be inedible raw. The pouring is the whole ritual. The bottle is held high above the head and the glass low at hip level, so the cider breaks on the side of the glass and briefly foams. You drink the culin, a mouthful, straight away before it goes flat, and throw the last splash on the floor. Bottles are shared around a table, not ordered by the glass. Cider houses line Gascona street in Oviedo and fill the old quarter of Gijon, while country llagares press apples in autumn and hold espicha gatherings straight from the barrel.

What you actually see

• The escanciado pour - bottle overhead, glass at hip, cider aerated on impact.
• Gascona street - Oviedo's row of cider houses, busy from early evening.
• Llagares - rural presses working through the autumn apple harvest.
• Espicha - a standing gathering with cider straight from the barrel and food to match.

When to go

Late spring through autumn is the pleasant window in a green region that earns its colour with rain. Autumn is the pressing season and the best time to visit a rural llagar, though many need booking. Evenings from about eight are when the cider houses fill; weekends are loud and often full by nine.

Honest expectations

The drink is tart, yeasty and completely without sweetness, and plenty of visitors do not take to it. It arrives a mouthful at a time whether or not you like the pace, and the floors are deliberately wet and sticky. Rooms are loud, portions are enormous, rural llagares need a car and a booking, and it rains a great deal.

Nearby

The Picos de Europa, the Asturian coastal beaches and Oviedo's pre-Romanesque churches.