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Spain loves gazpacho so much, someone just invented a beer that tastes like tomatoes

If there is one thing Spain takes seriously it’s gazpacho. Everyone knows that whether you prefer it with cucumber or without, there is nothing quite so refreshing as a bowl of freshly chilled gazpacho.

Published: 5 August 2019 18:34 CEST

Spain loves gazpacho so much, someone just invented a beer that tastes like tomatoes

Gazpacho beer is the ultimate summer refresher, apparently. Photo: La Fabrica Cruzcampo

Or is there? Beer is pretty refreshing too isn’t it? Can there be anything more thirst-quenching than an ice-cold caña, ideally served in a glass straight from the freezer, frosted with ice.

Now, imagine the two put together.

That’s exactly what happened when brewmaster Jorge Varela at Cruzcampo, one of the biggest breweries in Spain, came up with his latest craf beer invention.

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The latest Cruzcampo product is called “Gazpacho Beer” – or the catchy Cruzcampacho – a craft beer of 4.8 percent alcohol with a reddish hue that carries a hint of tomato, pepper and cucumber in its flavour

“Thermometers now reach suffocating temperatures and you are looking for a refreshing way to quench your thirst… At La Fábrica we created a beer that combines freshness with the flavour of one of the seasonal star dishes,” explains Cruzcampo.

“The Master Brewers at Cruzcampo’s La Fábrica created the ideal combination of beer and gazpacho! A daring mix that will quench your thirst even on the most suffocating summer day,” reads the product description on the website.

Designed to capture “the taste of summer”, Gazpacho beer is ideally paired with soft cheeses, a slice of Spanish tortilla to fried anchovies, said a statement by the Fabrica Cruzcampo in Malaga.

Great news for those who love both gazpacho and beer. The bad news though is that it’s only available at the brewery in Malaga, while stocks last.

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Why do they pour cider like that in Spain's Asturias?

They say Asturian blood is 50 percent water and 50 percent cider, and given the 40 million bottles produced every year in the region, it doesn’t seem too hard to believe.

However, it’s the method of serving cider in Asturias which really captures the imagination.

The bottle will either come attached to a contraption which sucks up the cider and splurts it into a wide but thin-rimmed glass.

Or the waiter will come out every few minutes to grab your bottle and glass, lift the former high up with one arm and the latter down low around waist height before pouring some of the cider into the glass from at an arm’s length.

There’s even a verb for this action – escanciar – to decant.

The objective is for the cider to be shaken and aerated so that its natural carbon dioxide ‘awakens’.

When it is poured from above and hits the glass, carbon dioxide bubbles are produced that make the aroma of the cider come alive.

It’s good and normal for there to be splashback when pouring Asturian cider, but the aim is still to get most of it in the glass. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

These bubbles go away quickly so once served, the customer should quickly drink the culín (small bottom) up in one swig.

The action of escanciar imitates how cider would be traditionally served when it went directly from big oak barrels to the glass, as cider has been the drink of choice in Asturians since before Roman times.

READ ALSO: Why Spaniards’ habit of drinking alcohol every day is surprisingly healthy

This is after all natural cider which doesn’t come with the sugar, additives and pre-carbonated mixes of brands such as Strongbow, Magners or Kopparberg.

“It took me some time to get the hang of pouring cider, I missed the mark a lot, and my arm used to get very tired at first,” a Latin American waitress at a bar in Gijón told The Local Spain.

Many sidrerías (cider houses) and restaurants have cylindrical tubes on wheels where escanciadores (the waiters in charge of pouring cider) can put the glass in to avoid making a mess on the floor or splashing customers, as there is always some splatter even if they don’t completely miss the mark.

A waiter pours cider for customers at a cider bar in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo (Photo by RAFA RIVAS / AFP)

The more old-school chigres (cider house in Asturian) prefer to have sawdust all over the floor to absorb the spilt cider.

To pour, tirar (throw) or escanciar (decant) cider like an Asturian, you should tilt the bottle slowly from above and aim for the cider to hit the top part of the inside side of the glass, which has to be held at a 45-degree angle. It’s this that brings out the effervescence out in la sidra natural.

So when you visit the beautiful region of Asturias and you tuck into their famously ample servings of fabada asturiana (Asturian bean stew) or cachopo (meat, cheese and ham all together in breadcrumbs), washed down with one or two bottles of sidra, now you’ll understand what’s behind this eye-catching tradition.

READ ALSO: Eight fascinating facts about Spain’s Asturias region

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