First time cider

So this is more of an introduction I just cold crashed my first cider. It was a simple recipe I found here 2 gallons store bought juice 3 cups sugar 1 Nottingham Packet. I am just getting started and have been neglecting gravity readings. I waited about 8 days for the yeast to start dropping and overall cloudiness to subside. I noticed a faint sulfur smell that went away around day 4 after I elevated the fermenter off the marble counter to reduce the cold being passed and lowering the temp. We keep our house right at 70 degrees so I didn't bother throwing it in a chamber or anyplace more sophisticated.
Skip to today. I cold crashed for 24 hours and me being the impatient one had to taste. The end result left a noticeable Apple flavor not too sweet. I added a bit of Splenda and shook it about. In my opinion it tastes just as good as store bought and it still has a ways to go. I also decided to carbonate it a bit soooo I threw it in my soda stream and slowly opened so as not to get a cider shower... I am happy to reportView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1422678396.358921.jpg delicious!

Just as good as store bought to me is not a good thing. Unless you're referring to the small commercial artisan ciders. I added just 1/2 cup of xylitol to my latest 5 gal. batch and it cut the tart and dry finish just enough.

It didn't seem to be dry and it goes down smooth even just a day out of the fermenter I had added a 1/2 tbsp of vanilla before fermenting and it helped to keep the flavor pleasant. I'll check it again tonight. I'm so glad there are so many people here to learn from like I said it's just my first cider fermented in a mr beer haha so I'm grateful for the tips

Nice. I just did my first cider back in November. I did two one gallon batches, and I still have over half of it left. I pop one in the fridge every once in a while to enjoy later that evening. I'm going to hold on to the rest of it to see how good it tastes this summer. It definitely gets better with time.

BTW - you had better eat those bananas soon.