I looked through most of this thread, I didn't see the mention of aging your cider to get a solid flavor. Yes, when it's done fermenting it normally doesn't taste like a whole lot, but let some time pass and the apple flavor comes back out. What tastes borderline ick today, 12 months from now is really nice. Adding one 12oz can of frozen apple juice concentrate to one gallon of juice will not only raise your ABV to 7% or so, but it also adds a huge amount of apple flavor to your cider.
EDIT: The past few batches I have been using Red Star Pasteur Yeast. NOT Pasteur Champagne yeast. It has an unbelievable range of fermentation temperatures; from 65-80*F, if I remember correctly, and even getting a 7% ABV hard cider to start with, it still tastes like apples up front, and I don't have anything older than 2 months stashed away to compare to. I wish I would have been using this yeast last year, because some apple jack made with ale yeast I had stashed away for 13 months was so much more than I ever thought it could be. I am now on a quest to make at least two batches of different fruit hard ciders per month getting two 12oz bottles of high proof apple jack per gallon. One for (X) quantity of months from now, and one for maybe a year from bottling, or even longer. Due to the residual sugar I intentionally leave in the apple jack, no light and cool temperatures during bottle conditioning, just may give it the kind of amazing shelf life that some mead's have. No, it is not mead, and it will never be in the same class, but that is okay, maybe it needs to be in a class by itself.
EDIT 2: PM Yooper, she is the go-to gal when it comes to anything that used to apples, and now is is wine or hard cider. Go, YOOPER!