Published by: Gourmet Sleuth Last Updated: 10/14/2013
Stevia is the common name for stevia rebaudiana, an herb used as a replacement for sugar or other non-nutritionative sweeteners. The resulting extract from the stevia plant is roughly ten times sweeter than sugar. Both of the Stevita products are made in Brazil and certified organic.
Serving sizes and servings per container
Stevita Liquid - 15 mg stevia rebaudiana leaves Other ingredients, distilled water and grapefruit seed extract as a preservative. Calories per serving 0 Stevia powder - 96% concentration from stevia leaves Other ingredients, tapioca maltodextrin (bulking agent), silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent). Calories per serving 0
We added two drops of the Stevita liquid to a 6 ounce cup of coffee and found it to be sufficiently sweet. This amount of sweetener was equal to about 1 teaspoon to 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. Even at this low rate we could detect an "aftertaste" and a slight "herbal" flavor.
One tester has a real sweet tooth. He put 5 drops in his 6 ounce cup of coffee. This is very sweet and at this rate the aftertaste was very pronounced.
It is too early in our testing to reach any conclusions other than it is a sugar substitute for people who have dietary reasons to eliminate or reduce sugar from their diet. If you do not like the artificial sweeteners then you may not like stevia either.
"I use stevia and tupelo honey exclusively to sweeten. With stevia, I use the packets, like artificial sweetener packets. For an entire cake to replace all sugar I use 3 packets. I found I was using way too much stevia initially. For coffee, it is a few grains, not a full packet. The same holds true for those who like orange juice sweetened. I use a portion of the packet. When cutting back further and further in the amounts the herbal taste disappears. I made a banana cake from a stevia recipe book. It was a bit dry for I tried to also make it non-fat. I used 3 packets of stevia for the entire cake. Then I made a pineapple sauce, cut fresh mango and sprinkled coconut over the cake. My guests loved it. When I first tasted the cake fresh from the oven, it did not taste sweet. As it sat overnight, the sweetness became more and more pronounced."