# Artificial Sweetener Guidance **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465 "2017-09-27T20:48:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/21 "2017-09-28T18:26:51Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Sweetener? In coffee? Screw that noise, just drink it black. Add some creamer if you must. > > Sometimes I’ll add sugar if I need an extra carb-kick but that obviously doesn’t work with artificial sweeteners. > > Be careful you haven’t pissed off any meth dealers lately… > [@jtur88](#): > > Just gradually decreased your sugar, until you don’t add any at all. Discover that coffee doesn’t really taste that bad at all, once you get used to it. Or, one could find the right combination of sweeteners to sweeten their coffee to their preference, which was what the OP actually was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/22 "2017-09-28T18:28:54Z")
Speaking of which, a big benefit of splenda in my experience is that it immediately dissolves in cold drinks like iced tea and iced coffee. Instead of piling up at the bottom of your glass for you to choke on later. A lot less stirring when you make Koolaid with it, too. I don’t have enough experience with saccharine and aspartame to know if they work the same, but I suspect they do. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/23 "2017-09-28T18:38:17Z")
I’m pretty much in the “they all suck” camp. Maybe it’s just me, but I find all of them - including Stevia - taste like acetone. Well, I’ve never actually tasted acetone so I guess it tastes like I think acetone would taste based on the smell. But strongly chemical. I know instantaneously if I get served a diet drink instead of a sugared drink in a restaurant. Maybe it’s genetic or something but I don’t know how anyone can tolerate it. The sucralose is the less horrible of the 3 and I don’t have a problem with baked goods made with sucralose ( except for the icing sometimes). But I’d rather have water than ANY diet beverage. Best is water mixed with a couple of splashes of juice. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/24 "2017-09-28T18:40:17Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I’m pretty much in the “they all suck” camp. Maybe it’s just me, but I find all of them - including Stevia - taste like acetone. Good username / post combo? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/25 "2017-09-28T18:41:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I remember being told that adding saccharine to any other sweetner has a synergy effect–makes them taste sweeter. Kind of a 1 + 1 = 3 effect. To my experience, this is very much true. Saccharine alone is an imperfect sweetener because of the aftertaste, but it does get you a lot of “sweet” per packet. So, the trick is to combine saccharine with either sucralose, aspartame, or even a smidge of table sugar. That will cover the saccharine aftertaste. The right combo and the right proportions will vary from person to person. For me, in my 16-oz coffee mug … two Sweet n Lows and one Splenda do the trick. The same quantities of these same sweeteners work for iced tea, too. Sweet N Low + Equal is not as good, but better than passable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/26 "2017-09-28T19:31:36Z")
Before this thread I had no idea that some people mix artificial sweeteners. I’m going to have to try this the next time I’m at a diner. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/27 "2017-09-28T23:35:19Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Just gradually decreased your sugar, until you don’t add any at all. Discover that coffee doesn’t really taste that bad at all, once you get used to it. That only works for the properly roasted and brewed coffees, which one cannot rely on finding outside of mom and pop coffee houses or made at home by fussy people like me. Trying to drink the typical coffees served up by the chains like Starbucks and others demonstrates the utter failure of the industry to learn how to brew a decent cuppa. Cream and sugar is necessary to ingest that swill. IMNSHO, YMMV, go give yourself erosive gastritis, I don’t care anymore . . . ---
**Author:** ![the\_thecat\_hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@the\_thecat\_hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_thecat_hat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/28 "2017-09-29T09:27:55Z")
Thanks to all who replied, and feel free to continue. I am going to get three small cups at starbucks or dunkin and set up a taste test. I also like the idea of mixing one of the sweeteners with real sugar. I’ll let you know if I have any major epiphanies from the taste test. ---
**Author:** ![the\_thecat\_hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@the\_thecat\_hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_thecat_hat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/29 "2017-09-29T18:44:06Z")
OK; here are my results. Pink is the worst. I couldn’t tell much difference between yellow and blue. But not pleased with any of them and I think I will stick with sugar. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/30 "2017-09-29T19:38:13Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I used to be a Stevia person, still am if I go by taste preference only. But then I discovered that it was (almost surely) the erythritol (a sugar alcohol) they add to stevia that was messing up my stomach something fierce. That would probably be the “Truvia”, a Cargill product that you find in restaurants. Get something like Stevia in the Raw, which you can find larger grocery stores in large bags, which has only maltodextrin added for bulk. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/31 "2017-09-29T23:03:41Z")
> [@the\_thecat\_hat](#): > > Thanks to all who replied, and feel free to continue. I am going to get three small cups at starbucks or dunkin and set up a taste test. I also like the idea of mixing one of the sweeteners with real sugar. I’ll let you know if I have any major epiphanies from the taste test. Please report back on that. Sounds very Mythbusters-esque. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465/32 "2017-09-29T23:41:39Z")
In order of preference: Splenda (yellow), Equal (blue), Stevia (green), and Saccharine (pink). For sweetening my coffee, I have no problems with first three. Saccharine, however, makes me gag and is only palatable if mixed 1:1 with sugar (which pretty much defeats the purpose of using an artificial sweetener). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-sweetener-guidance/797465.md?page=1)