Food Tours · Tour

Pour the Cider Yourself, in a Bar Open Since 1942

Twelve tastings across five stops and three and a half hours, meeting on the cathedral steps at the Plaza del Buen Pastor, where the guide waits under an orange umbrella. The first stop is a family bar that has been on the same street since 1942, and the first thing you learn there is how to pour. Basque natural cider is still, sharp and unfiltered; it is poured from arm's length so the stream breaks against the side of the glass and gets a moment of air, and you drink the inch or two in the bottom straight away. You do it yourself. Alongside it comes 100% Ibérico ham from acorn-fed pigs, sliced thin enough to see through. Six pintxos in total. An oyster. Grilled foie gras and mushrooms with a soft aioli. A croquette. Olives. A signature dish the company will not name in advance. And to finish, torrija with ice cream, which is Spanish French toast, soaked in milk, fried and caramelised. The drinks run through local red and white, txakoli, natural cider and a Rioja. The walking covers the Buen Pastor cathedral, the Hotel María Cristina, the Victoria Eugenia theatre from 1912 with four sculpture groups over its Doric columns representing opera, tragedy, comedy and drama, and the Kursaal, Rafael Moneo's pair of glass cubes on the beach that the city argued about for years and now uses for everything. Up to twelve travellers, guided in English, wheelchair accessible throughout. There is a fair amount of walking, so wear the right shoes. Itinerary and menu can change with availability and weather. Contact them ahead about dietary requirements.