A Brewer in Your Kitchen

The next “kitchen gadget” you may buy is another brewer. But not for coffee -- it can automatically brew hard cider right in your kitchen.

It is called the Alchema, and is connected to an app, of course. You fill it with fruit, yeast, sugar, water, and wait, according to Tech Insider.  

Select a recipe from the app, which details the amount of each ingredient. Next, you measure and chop the fruit, and then add it with the yeast, sugar and water to the Alchema. You need different yeast to make your cider still, bubbly or with a stronger alcohol content. 

Hit "start." The machine then starts the process to ferment the beverage. Sensors inside the Alchema monitor the brew during the fermentation process, and adjust conditions based on temperature, alcohol content and air pressure.   

Depending on the type of cider, it can make 10 different flavors of craft cider, including apple, strawberry, raspberry and pomegranate - you’ll have to wait one to two weeks to drink. Each batch of cider is 0.6 gallon (or about three wine bottles), ranging from 3 percent to 14 percent alcohol. 

We are going to see a lot more of these type of gadgets coming into the food world from the connected home. Before you buy, it’s important to evaluate just how much you’ll use it, and how much counter space it might take up. Sure it’s cool, but when was the last time you used your ice cream maker or bread machine? And what about the cost? 

After a successful launch on Kickstarter, discounts are over and it will set you back $499, plus the cost of the yeast packets. That’s a lot of hard cider you could buy without all the work – oh, I meant fun!