Stevia?

[spyrosmom]

So I normally use Splenda (ah, wonderful, wonderful chemicals ) in my iced tea, and iced coffee. I drink hot coffe black. I've seen talk of stevia on this board, which to my understanding is natural, plant extract. Cool. I bought some Purevia packets at the store the other day. Yuck!!!! It has a very chemically aftertaste to me, and its not supposed to be all chemicals. Even when I'm done drinking and I breathe in, I can still taste it in my mouth. I also tried it on 0% Fage with strawberries and on some plain strawberries. Yuck!! The immediate taste isn't bad, but the aftertaste is funkalicious and doesn't go away. Is there a better version of stevia w/out the funk?

Nan

 

[MAYNARDSMOM]

Funny you mentioned this Nan, I was thinking of posting myself on Stevia. I have started using it recently also. I use NuNaturals NuStevia packets - tea & greek yogurt. I haven't noticed any after taste or yucky taste at all. HHHMMM???? Maybe if you try another brand.
I also started using it for the fact that it's natural not some artificial sweetener. So far so good for me....good luck in your quest for a good one.

 

[Janis]

I have been using a liquid extract called Stevita. It comes in a little 1.35fl ounce white bottle with a green cap, it sells for about $5, but lasts a long time. You only need 3-6 drops -tiny drops, not squirts! It should be available at Whole Foods.

That funkalicious chemical taste in the powdered form could be from too much stevia...which can happen if I use the bulk stevia and go a bit overboard.

Also, it does take some getting used to.

HTH

 

[PhyllisG]

I don't like stevia at all and think it tastes terrible. I use very little sugar in my tea so I just stick with raw sugar. If I want a sweetener on yogurt I will use either honey or my favorite, maple syrup.

 

[babindy]

I'm a steviangelist

BUT you do have to work with it. It can be overpowering. It's very easy to use too much. I also found that I prefer some versions over others. One of the best I've found are the french vanilla flavored packets I found at Whole Foods. I also have a variety of the flavored liquid dropper bottles. I use this as my sweetener almost exclusively. But, again, I've worked with it for years. I like that it's natural, plant based, is good for glucose levels and you can cook with it. I have found that for cooking it's best mixed 50/50 with another type of sweetener. And start with less as I seem to need less overall with the 50/50

YMMV

 

[kathryn]

I think some people notice the slight licorice taste or an aftertaste more than others (remember that litmus test in grade school or high school science class, when you tasted something on a slip of paper, and some people could taste it and others couldn't--something bitter, I think. Some people had the genes to taste it, others not. Maybe it's the same with stevia).

I use Sweetleaf stevia (liquid or powder) and don't notice any unpleasant taste (or any aftertaste).

Last week, I bought two stevia plants from my local farmers market, and I ate a leaf right off the plant and it tasted fine to me. (I also used some leaves in some mint sun tea I made using mint from my garden).

Try using less. If you use too much, it can taste unpleasant, even to someone who normally likes it.