PART 1: Hard Cider
First step was to buy a gallon of cider, ensuring that there were no preservatives used. Easy enough. Next, the cider is simmered for about a half hour to kill off any wild yeast that may be present. During this process, I also dissolved in a half pound of brown sugar (I have no idea what differences white/brown sugar have on the final product).
Once all simmered up, I added the cider back to it's original container, and let it sit overnight to cool down to room temp. The following morning, I simply added the yeast to the mix, and put a balloon (which I poked a few holes in) over the mouth of the jug. The balloon acts as an airlock. As the yeast devours sugar and poops alcohol, gas is produced. The balloon allows this gas to escape without letting much air back in.
After the first night, we can see the yeast is quite active!
After a solid 3 weeks of waiting, the cider was ready to go! Compared to my first failed batch, this was delicious! Compared to other brand name ciders, it wasn't bad :P. It's not at all carbonated, so it turns out tasting a bit more like a wine than a cider. But either way, it's quite tasty and packs a bit of a punch!
PART 2: Skittles Vodka
A college favorite! As you may of guessed it, this is nothing more than the fusion of skittles and vodka. All you need is a bottle of vodka (750ml) and a bag of skittles (14oz). Start off by separating them by color, or you can try a mix of flavors if you're feeling dangerous. As you can see, I'm getting prepped for my Ugly Christmas Sweater party.
Before you add the skittles you're gonna have to pour out a bit of the vodka. I just added it to another bottle that I had. Once you've made room, add the skittles.
In the past I used to let this sit hours before I attempted to strain, which I realize now, was completely retarded. All we want is the outer most coating of the skittle. What I found in making this batch is that you just need a few minutes. So I continues sorting the other skittles, and gave the bottles a good shake in between each color. As you can see the skittles are practically solid white, and have expelled their flavor into the vodka.
Next we must strain the vodka, as we don't want the skittles to continue dissolving. I just placed a fork over the mouth of the bottle and poured into another container. Pretty simple!
Dump out the skittles, add the vodka back into it's bottle, and that's it! Easy and delicious!PRO TIP: The grape skittles, while hands down the best flavor of skittles, makes an AWFUL skittles vodka. It's pretty much cough medicine.
