# Has anyone tried Stevia? (The Herb that is supposedly sweeter than sugar) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941 "2003-05-23T01:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/21 "2003-05-23T21:30:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rubystreak \* > \*\* > There’s a restaurant around here that has Stevia packets as an option with the sugar and Equal, which is how I tried it. Look around, maybe you can sample it that way (try a hippy or vegetarian or natural foods place). \*\* Thanks, I’ll look around for some hippy places 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/22 "2003-05-23T22:04:29Z")
Stevia tastes like NutraSweet or saccharine to me. Blech. Being diabetic I sought to reduce/eliminate my use of sugar and I ended up choosing to drink my coffee with only cream rather than using stevia or Splenda (which tastes just like sugar when cold, but seems to acquire a nasty taste in hot coffee). I love my Splenda-flavored hard candies, though! ---
**Author:** ![Shana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Shana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shana)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/23 "2003-05-24T07:01:14Z")
I am still searching for the perfect sugar substitute…Stevia is fine in herbal tea, but I would never attempt to bake with it. It does seem to have a funny aftertaste. As for Splenda, I do like the taste, but I don’t trust it. I keep thinking it must be bad for me. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/24 "2003-05-24T07:27:12Z")
I use stevia in coffee, tea and on cereal. Just a little from one packet is enough. A box of packets should last me for quite some time. I like it, and Splenda too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Green\_Feather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Green\_Feather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Green_Feather)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/25 "2003-05-24T17:44:15Z")
I’ve always likes the Quakwatch web site. They have a short article on it. [Stevia: Is It Safe?](http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/stevia.html) ---
**Author:** ![Vixenation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/278dde/32.png) [@Vixenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vixenation)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/26 "2003-05-25T01:44:33Z")
**amarinth** , I had a prepackaged hot cocoa mix sweetened with Splenda (it was either Swiss Miss sugar-free or Acme supermarket brand sugar-free) and it was quite good. Very sweet and rich, but I’m not sure if my inclusion of warm milk rather than the suggested hot water had anything to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/27 "2003-05-25T02:10:26Z")
I tried the powdered form of Stevia a few years ago in tea and coffee. I wasn’t very impressed–while it was quite sweet, it had a very sharp taste, close (but not exactly like) licorice. Splenda is pretty good; I’ve tried some pickles containing Splenda, and couldn’t taste the difference between them and their high fructose corn syrup-sweetened counterparts. And I think **CurtC** has a valid point. Yes, there are legitimate questions to ask about aspartame, but I’m highly skeptical of any such answers from a website that has major features on chemtrails, crop circles, and “New World Order” conspiracies. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/28 "2003-05-25T03:06:09Z")
I’ve been told that there are no good studies on health benefits of Stevia. However, I could give a crap. Nutrasweet has a nasty aftertaste. Saccharine has an unpleasant taste, which is sometimes obscured by whatever your drinking. Stevia has a freaky taste, which is okay in some drinks. My advice is to taste test Stevia against your currently sweeteners and see what you think. And let me know if you find a fake sweetener that doesn’t make coffee taste more, instead of less, like battery acid. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/29 "2003-05-25T03:13:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*And let me know if you find a fake sweetener that doesn’t make coffee taste more, instead of less, like battery acid. \*\* **j.c.** , um dude, like you probably shouldn’t be sucking on battery acid. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Green\_Feather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Green\_Feather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Green_Feather)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/30 "2003-05-25T13:29:39Z")
[slight hijack] I have a questions about artificial sweeteners in general. Why do you need them, unless you’re diabetic? One teaspoon of sugar has about 16 calories. Is this making a huge difference in your diet? If so, I would suggest that your diet is way out of balance. Just my 2 cents, YMMV. [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941/31 "2003-05-25T15:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeep’s Phoenix \* > \*\* > > And I think **CurtC** has a valid point. Yes, there are legitimate questions to ask about aspartame, but I’m highly skeptical of any such answers from a website that has major features on chemtrails, crop circles, and “New World Order” conspiracies. \*\* The articles on [here](http://www.rense.com) do not originate from this website. They are written by individuals and I happen to believe in many of the things written there including chemtrails, crop circles and the “New World Order”. I’m highly skeptical of anyone who completely denies the fact that these subjects have truths they themselves cannot explain away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-tried-stevia-the-herb-that-is-supposedly-sweeter-than-sugar/176941.md?page=1)