Anxo - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Anxo


Inside a Truxton Circle row-house, a gray cement bar runs the length of the room, and 36 taps protrude from a wall of zigzag tiles. This is Anxo, DC’s first cider bar, a paean to the drink that inspired four beer experts to switch their focus to apple wine. After a cider crawl that spanned the US and Europe, partners Sam and Rachel Fitz, Tim Prendergast and Cooper Sheehan gathered their favorites, from fruity New England pours to traditional English cask ciders, as well as sagardoa and sidra, funky Basque and Asturian drafts. They’ve focused on ciders that go particularly well with Anxo’s pinxtos, Asturian-styled tapas turned out by Barcelona-born chef Alex Vallcorba. Upstairs there’s a second, more compact bar, as well as a dozen small tables for those interested in larger plates of charcuterie, cider-poached octopus, fried pig ears, hanger steak and more. Mindful staff stand ready to geek out about profiles and traditions of the many ciders on offer, as well as apple brandies, Basque wines and vermouth. Anxo‘s winery-pub license allows for bottle sales, all at reasonable prices. Oh, and that 660-gallon Barolo cask inside the door isn’t just ornamental: it’s being employed to ferment a house cider made from regional varietals foraged within a 150-mile radius of the bar.

300 Florida Ave. NW, Washington D.C.

Basque, Cider Bar

202-986-3795


This story appears in the print issue of February 2017.
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