Black Twig Cider House

Inspired by Basque cider houses while travelling abroad, Black Twig owners Mattie Beason and John Eisensmith fell in love with the centuries-old Spanish tradition of the txotx and have successfully built the only indoor txotx in the United States.

txotx | noun | \CHO-ch\ 1. A barrel filled with Spanish cider 2. A call to drink 3. A toast

The txotx is the barrel that holds the local Spanish cider. The cider is naturally still, but the act of catching it in your glass gives it a refreshing temporary effervescence. When someone in the room yells, "Txotx!," everyone gathers around the barrel with their glass, taking turns catching about 3oz of cider, and then toasting together before drinking the cider in unison. Txotx!

In addition to a thorough representation of cider in each of its varieties, Black Twig offers both new and traditional cider cocktails, as well as finely honed selections of craft beer and wine. The elevated bar fare that accompanies the cider highlights sausage sandwiches with house made toppings, as well as creative sides like the much loved Truffle Frites.

Mattie Beason, a forebearer in the Durham culinary scene, proudly offers his third Durham endeavor; in addition to his successful Six Plates, which resided in the same space as Black Twig, he also owns Mattie B’s Public House. This will be John Eisensmith’s first foray into restaurant ownership.