You don’t have to pull up a bar stool to get a taste of DC’s first cider house, Anxo Cidery & Pintxos Bar, which opened this summer in Shaw. Beginning today, Anxo’s creations will be available at four Washington-area Whole Foods (Glover Park, Foggy Bottom, P Street, Tenleytown) for $19.99 per bottle.
The cidery plans to expand its retail distribution even further with the opening of a second production facility and tasting room at 711 Kennedy St., Northwest in Brightwood Park early next year. That location will be open to the public three days a week with a 30-seat bar.
Of the four ciders currently available for retail, two are collaborations with Millstone Cellars in Maryland; another two are collaborations with Eden Specialty Ciders in Vermont. Here’s the breakdown:
ANXO/Millstone Collaboration #1 – This “bright, tart” riff on a Northern Spanish cider combines York, Jonathan, and Stayman Winesap apples. They’re fermented in 13 different oak barrels, blended together, and aged for three months in an Italian Barolo wine barrel.
ANXO/Millstone Collaboration #2 – Unlike other ciders, this one has no carbonation, which gives it a wine-like body. The dry, tart, and fruity beverage with green melon flavors is made with York, Jonathan, and Northern Spy apples, which are fermented separately in oak barrels then blended with some of Millstone’s Farmgate cider.
ANXO/Eden Collaboration #3 – A total of 18 heirloom apple varieties come together in this naturally fermented, bone-dry, high-acid cider, which tastes more like a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. The juice ages seven months in stainless steel and isn’t carbonated. “We see this cider as an extremely pure expression of the fruit and terroir of Vermont and closer to wine than anything else,” the Anxo team says in a press release.
ANXO/Eden Collaboration #4 – This cider is the same as #3 but undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, giving it extremely fine, Champagne-like bubbles.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
