My cider & wine kits are truly terrible

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Sulla

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Hi all,

I can make beer just fine, I'm happy to share it with friends without shame.

But cider & wine kits are are just dreadful - & I mean dreadful.

Making them short makes no real difference - they are thin and tasteless.

Is there something I'm not doing right.

I tend to do 7 day kits but I've also done some Beaverdale.

Many thanks for your consideration

Carl
 
I've done the On The Rocks peach and mango cider, and it's not bad at all.

Brewed according to the instructions, then left in a cold garage in secondary for another month off the trub. Its tasty, has some body to it, and is reasonably strong.
 
Alot seem to do pressed apple juice cider, I can't comment on quality but seems better to make cider from juice rather than apple flavoured kits, you could even throw a few real apples in. I'm sure there's a few cider experts on here who can advise you, as for wine kits I've only made a country wine that may take about ten years to get drinkable.
 
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We have always made the cheap and fast kits and have never really thought any were poor, I guess if they are not to your taste you will have to try the ones with more juice these can be quite expensive.
 
I always liked the Young’s Definitive range of different fruit wine kits but they mysteriously disappeared.

The Solomon Grundy ones are ok as well; I am quite fond of their Apricot kit.

As are the Wilkos Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay kits.

I consider all of these to be quite cheap kits. And ok they don’t come close to that nice Pouilly Fume stuff they sell in M and S, but they are still a nice drink, **** easy to make and a good price.
 
Sulla - what kits have you done, and that variety? I've always thought Beaverdale kits are fairly good. I really like the Chateau Du Roi.

I don't like white wine but with Winebuddy kits the whites are a lot better than the reds because it's not so bad them being slightly glorified sugar water as that's what most whites taste like to me.

Even with the wood chips and stuff there's a real lack of tannin in the reds. I've got a tub of tannin and you can use that and it helps but you never get that richness like a real wine or what you get with expensive kits and the glycerine they include to try and improve the mouthfeel can really make them sickly to the point that they're nearly undrinkable.

They're fair barbeque spritzer fuel, though, and it feels joyfully chavvy having it pre-mixed in a barrel.
 
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