# My impressions of Stevia. Not so great so far. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654 "2010-07-06T01:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/1 "2010-07-06T01:09:42Z")
Fresh leaves taste like sugared grass. Dried leaves loose the strong chlorophyll taste and leave the aftertaste of you being in a concert where pot smoke keeps drifting your way. Maybe the spices in pasta sauce will kill that. I hope so or there will be no Stevia in my future. I’m queasy right now and have to get this taste out of my mouth. Blah. A Stevia cutting roots real easy, so you can propagate the shit out of it. The one I tried has root nubs all over the stem in half a week. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/2 "2010-07-06T01:22:56Z")
I put little packets of Truvia in my coffee and have been happy thus far. On its own, it tastes like those super cheap, chalky candy— like, the little dipper that comes with fun dip. But in the coffee, you can’t even tell. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/3 "2010-07-06T01:29:15Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I put little packets of Truvia in my coffee and have been happy thus far. On its own, it tastes like those super cheap, chalky candy— like, the little dipper that comes with fun dip. But in the coffee, you can’t even tell. I bought that and it costs a lot. I’m trying to use stuff I can grow and is cheap. I don’t know if I’ll be able to use the unrefined plant. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/4 "2010-07-06T01:32:46Z")
I got like, 50 packets or something at Walmart for $3.99 or so. I suppose since the coffee is all I’m using it for, that’ll last me a long while. Did you try maybe crushing up a fresh leaf and dipping it into your coffee or tea? Or steeping the leaves in your tea? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/5 "2010-07-06T01:51:36Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I got like, 50 packets or something at Walmart for $3.99 or so. I suppose since the coffee is all I’m using it for, that’ll last me a long while. > > Did you try maybe crushing up a fresh leaf and dipping it into your coffee or tea? Or steeping the leaves in your tea? I don’t drink tea or coffee. I need larger quantities for things I want to try. I’d like it for cherry juice processed at home and lots of things you normally dump cups of sugar into. Home made lemonade with no sugar would be good. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/6 "2010-07-06T01:58:11Z")
I’ve tried truvia as an artificial sweetener. I hated it, it was the worst one to date out of all the ones that I have tried. A very chemical aftertaste. The only one that doesn’t taste awful to me is Equal but everyone is different. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/7 "2010-07-06T02:08:01Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I don’t drink tea or coffee. I need larger quantities for things I want to try. I’d like it for cherry juice processed at home and lots of things you normally dump cups of sugar into. Home made lemonade with no sugar would be good. Man, it would never occur to me to use stevia in place of _cups_ of sugar. That just seems like it wouldn’t work right off the bat. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/8 "2010-07-06T02:08:55Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I don’t drink tea or coffee. I need larger quantities for things I want to try. I’d like it for cherry juice processed at home and lots of things you normally dump cups of sugar into. Home made lemonade with no sugar would be good. How. . . would you plan on doing this? Like, do you have a way to extract the. . .sugary from the plant or something? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/9 "2010-07-06T02:14:35Z")
I’ve tried Truvia and I’m really not a fan. It gives my beverage an off taste that I can’t get past. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/10 "2010-07-06T02:15:02Z")
Stevia is great in cold drinks. I had some sort of “vitamin” water the other day that was fantastic. I was attracted to the melon flavor because I was hoping it would be like agua fresca. Not quite, not even close but it was a refreshing lightly sweetened flavor, with a sort of cool aftertaste. May be a stupid question but are you sure you got the right kind? Also, every time I have the good kind, like with that water, it’s not just stevia; it’s a mix with erythritol, my most favorite sweetener. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/11 "2010-07-06T02:32:35Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > How. . . would you plan on doing this? Like, do you have a way to extract the. . .sugary from the plant or something? I was hoping to use the leaves in the juice and strain it out. I think the dried leaves might not flavor the stuff badly. I don’t have that quantity of leaves at this time anyway. This is the experiment year to see if I would want to grow large quantities next year. The processed stuff is easy to work with and like I said for me too expensive for doing this. I collect many different juices boiled down from picked fruit for use during the rest of the year. A gallon or two lasts a long time. Anyhow I’m writing down my impressions on using Stevia leaves and so far it’s not that great. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/12 "2010-07-06T02:33:02Z")
You may be using too much. Fresh Stevia is incredibly strong. Try just a minute tear from the tip of the leaf. I’ve heard it said that the “soury” notes live nearer the stem, but it’s just a rumour. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/13 "2010-07-06T02:57:49Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Stevia is great in cold drinks. I had some sort of “vitamin” water the other day that was fantastic. I was attracted to the melon flavor because I was hoping it would be like agua fresca. Not quite, not even close but it was a refreshing lightly sweetened flavor, with a sort of cool aftertaste. > > May be a stupid question but are you sure you got the right kind? Also, every time I have the good kind, like with that water, it’s not just stevia; it’s a mix with erythritol, my most favorite sweetener. I had whatever’s in Truvia. I was at a restaurant, and I figured that since I didn’t have to buy a whole box, I’d try it in my iced tea. I’ve also had it in coffee; the restaurant in question didn’t have any other artificial sweetener besides saccharine. The tea just had an off taste that I didn’t care for and probably wouldn’t be able to develop a taste for, but I thought it was downright nasty in the coffee. Maybe I’d like it (or at least tolerate it) in a bottled beverage, but I tend not to drink them. Give me my tea and coffee with Splenda, please! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/14 "2010-07-06T03:06:34Z")
My brain honestly thought this was going to be about you pretending to be Stevia, like, for everybody’s enjoyment. Sorry. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/15 "2010-07-06T03:23:05Z")
So…it’s a sweetener then, and not some new drug I hadn’t heard of. Noted. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/16 "2010-07-06T04:00:34Z")
It depends on what brand of Stevia you buy. Truvia is the worst tasting brand of Stevia. I will say I’m not a fan of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/17 "2010-07-06T04:20:52Z")
As far as Stevia, I like NuNaturals the best of the ones I’ve tried. For using in recipes I prefer Splenda. I use it to make a sugar-free cherry syrup to make diet cherry limeades at home. Yum ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-impressions-of-stevia-not-so-great-so-far/545654/18 "2010-07-06T04:57:43Z")
_Now_ brand refined power and liquid stevia is quite good. I have no use for the raw green plant matter.