Although today’s advanced cider production methods give us a high-quality product that keeps well, things were different in the past. Cellars in the Basque Country lacked the means to keep cider in good condition in the kupelas (casks) all year round, so those who came to buy cider between late winter and early spring had to stock up on enough bottled cider to last the whole year. To make use of the cider in the kupelas that had not been chosen for bottling, it was sold by the glass, poured straight from these huge barrels, so that the cellars turned into a kind of cider house.

Of course, as we say, this is no longer necessary. However, the ritual lived on over time, giving rise to what we now know as the txotx season. A real food festival that Basque cider houses celebrate from mid-January until late April or early May.