STEVIA

[Greg Adams]

I wondered why all of the stevia products on the market were mostly sugar-alcohols, with a little stevia thrown in.

I wanted pure stevia, so I grew some.

And I've learned that it tastes awful.  It doesn't taste sweet at all to me.  I tastes like a noxious weed!

I see that Dean P. grows some in his garden.  Dean, I'd be interested to hear how pure stevia tastes to you!

I wonder if different people experience the taste of Stevia differently.

 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Hi Greg and welcome to the CR Forums! 

Yes I enjoy the stevia I grow in my garden and I also buy pure stevia powder to sweeten my coffee. I think they taste similar also in it's highly concentrated form it can be a bit bitter. This is the pure stevia powder I buy. It lasts me a LONG time. 

https://a.co/d/idJxJxM

 

[Todd Allen]

18 hours ago, Greg Adams said:

I wondered why all of the stevia products on the market were mostly sugar-alcohols, with a little stevia thrown in.

I wanted pure stevia, so I grew some.

And I've learned that it tastes awful.  It doesn't taste sweet at all to me.  I tastes like a noxious weed!

If the leaves of your home grown stevia don't have a strong sweet taste I would compare them to online images to be sure your plant is stevia and not an interloper.

Stevia extract powder is available but commonly is 200 to 300 times more potent than sugar so it is challenging to dose and often has a bitter note when over dosed.  When I grew stevia I mainly used it to make sun tea steeping a leaf or two along with each tea bag.  Sometimes I'd just steep the leaves in water to use later to make lemonade or coffee.  But now we buy concentrated liquid stevia extracts in either glycerin or alcohol.  Easy to dose using a dropper and most everything I use it for only needs a couple drops so an 8 oz bottle easily lasts my wife and I more than a year.  It can also be found in smaller bottles if you are concerned you won't like it or will only use it infrequently.  I find the liquid extracts have a much cleaner taste than the powders I've tried and even when used with a heavy hand for sweet desserts it does not become disagreeable as the powders can.

 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Good points Todd. I suspect the answer to Greg's question about why stevia powder is typical cut with a sugar alcohol is to make measuring it out easier.