Alchema kitchen "hard cider" making - what do you think folks?

Detail and funding status here,see: ALCHEMA: Turn Fruit into Personalized Craft Cider by ALCHEMA — Kickstarter

Seems pretty cool. How long does cider typically take? 1-2 weeks must be for un-carbonated?

Wow. I’m all for gadgets, but I don’t think people understand how easy cider is to make. Especially the comparison chart. Gas release “explosive and messy?” Maybe a little stinky, but I bet this on your kitchen counter will also smell like sulfury yeast. Plus, I have my doubts about this tasting all that great. Does this thing do temp control, or just sit on a warm kitchen counter? Does the “sparkling” cider carbonate in the fermentor, then stay on the lees? I’ll stick to my jugs, airlocks, and bottles.

Using 100% fresh apple juice, our cider usually takes two weeks to ferment to dryness i.e. to reach a specific gravity of 1.000 or less. That is using a starter champagne yeast and a local temperature of about 15oC. Given the limited details for the machine I guess that the apple wine that they descibe making would be uncarbonated.

I share your reservations and I too will “stick to my jugs, airlocks and bottles”.

There sure are bunch of new mouse traps out there, aren’t there? I will stick to the old school stuff, juice, ferment, and wait a while… New school, keg and add CO2! Sneezles61