cider tastes bland

So i just finished my first cider (3 gallons fresh cider, 2.5# brown sugar, 2.5# chopped raisons). I am going to bottle and prime it for carbing tomorrow, but i decided to get a taste today. Its gotta a punch to it (higher abv) which is nice, but it tastes a bit bland. It doesnt even really taste like cider anymore.

I was planning on seeing if a little splenda or something non-fermentable would sweeten it up, and make it a bit better.

any suggestions?

is this normal for a cider

Yes it's normal.

You can use organic apple flavor concentrate that can be purchased from any organic shop in conjuncture with splenda. This is a flavor concentrate, so a little dab will be sufficient. I personally use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon and I'm always careful not to add too much as it will taste fake if you over do it. I found this info on another website and it really helps the taste of my cider !

You can also add citric acid to get that kick that I personally really love in ciders. I usually adjust the acid content before fermentation but you can do it at the end. Get yourself a acid test kit for +-6$ and cider should be in the 0.3 to 0.5 % of Titratable acid. If you test before fermentation, you can taste your juice and taste it as you test it to make sure your comfortable with the taste. Raising the acid content if too low will also protect your cider from bacterial infection.

Good luck!

zcaad9 said:

So i just finished my first cider (3 gallons fresh cider, 2.5# brown sugar, 2.5# chopped raisons). I am going to bottle and prime it for carbing tomorrow, but i decided to get a taste today. Its gotta a punch to it (higher abv) which is nice, but it tastes a bit bland. It doesnt even really taste like cider anymore.

I was planning on seeing if a little splenda or something non-fermentable would sweeten it up, and make it a bit better.

any suggestions?

is this normal for a cider

Click to expand...

Wait a year. It gets better and better.

I've bottled with splenda in addition to standard priming sugar, the result was wonderful. However, snooty people say they can taste the difference. These same snooty people had no problem guzzling it down either.