We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, to be honest. Integrating the brewery, Casa el Premio, feels like a constant challenge. Sometimes it feels like we're still in a reality show. But there's no turning back, and honestly, we don't want to. We have fantastic plans for the future, and that means going all out.
Last month was all about various interviews. We were featured in LINDA, Beerwulf, De Week, and Ontdek de Costa Blanca. From January, I'll be writing a column every two months for a Zeeland-based publisher, which I'm really looking forward to.
Tastings at El Premio
In January, we plan to open the top floor of El Premio for tastings. How cool is that, with that magnificent view? There's still a lot to do before then. We need to insulate, lay floors, and much more. Luckily, we sometimes get help. In November, Bastiaan's brother and his girlfriend visited. We needed their help to pick up our wood stove from friends. We are incredibly grateful, as the cold has now settled in the interior. Every morning it feels like we're on Survivor: Bastiaan gathers wood while I tend to the fire. We spend almost the entire day keeping the ground floor warm and comfortable. But there's also something special about it. The smell of the fireplace spreads through the village. Together with all the decorated houses, it creates a truly fairytale atmosphere.
The Brewery
Our goal, of course, remains to set up a brewery. For the holidays, we re-released a limited edition of our Kriek: the Kriek Herencia, meaning "heritage." A tribute to Zarra's heritage, the rich essence of its cherries. Proudly brewed for our community. We've also been busy finding a distributor. Spain is vast, incredibly vast. We can't drive our beers all over the country ourselves. That's why we've been looking for various distributors, and with success. From January, we'll be taking our Weizen around the Costa Blanca. We hope that this summer, the entire Costa Blanca will have our Weizen with Orange on their menus. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we've found the distributor on the coast. That's certainly the first step. Additionally, we've been invited to various locations to give tastings. So it's clear we're not sitting still.
Looking Ahead and the Holidays
We also went to Polopos, which was great. We were invited by Thysa and Wijnand, the winners of their season. Polopos is beautiful but also very small, with only 80 inhabitants currently. Compared to Zarra, which has about 350 people, that's a big difference. It was nice to exchange experiences with Tysa and Wijnand, but especially to look forward together. Their love for that place is indescribable, and it motivates us to make Zarra just as beautiful a village.
Finally, we are preparing for Christmas. In Zarra, there's a Christmas market where we'll naturally be selling our beers, and also a Cherry Glühwein. That fits perfectly with this weather. There are various competitions in the village, including for who has decorated the most beautiful house and who has dressed up their pet the most beautifully. You can probably guess that we'll be participating in those.