Experimenting with 1L batches of cider

[az77]

I thought i could make say 5 x 1L batches of cider and ferment them each in 2L bottles, all at the same time, just to get an idea of what tastes good and what not. I have all the usual suspects,

Elderflowers, honey, demerera sugar, granulated sugar, EC1118, tea, cinnamon, regular apples, cheap AJ concentrate.

The thing is, i thought it would be a no-brainer but after searching the forums i see that some people are not happy with their outcome. So i thought i could make a yeast starter in maybe 1L of water and split that starter yeast mix between the five 2L bottles. And i could use different combos of ingredients between each 2L bottle.

Or does someone have a recipe that they think that works well. What do you think?

[boingy]

Just use a pack of dry yeast and split it 5 ways. No starter needed.

[Wolfy]

...
And i could use different combos of ingredients between each 2L bottle.
...
What do you think?

If it was me (and since I prefer cider that is a little sweet), I'd also look at using different yeasts as well, some of the lower alcohol tolerance wine yeasts (D47, 71B) as well as some of the ale beer yeasts that are available.
But as boingy said, just add the correct amount of dry yeast to each batch you ferment, there is no need for a stater.

[az77]

Great. The yeast comes in 5g packets, so your saying 1g of yeast is enough per 1-2l of must?

Seems small to me, i know yeast multiples, but them i am still new to brewing, so what would i know. Essentially a few grains of yeast would be enough, it would just go a bit slower right?

[boingy]

Dried beer yeasts like S04 typically come in 11 gram packets and will do 25 litres. It will be fine. Go do it.

[Wolfy]

Great. The yeast comes in 5g packets, so your saying 1g of yeast is enough per 1-2l of must?

Seems small to me, i know yeast multiples, but them i am still new to brewing, so what would i know. Essentially a few grains of yeast would be enough, it would just go a bit slower right?

1g of yeast is more than 'a few grains'.
While it may seem a small amount there will be about 20 billion yeast cells in that 1g, so it will be way more than adequate for samples that are 1-2L in size.