As I drink quite a bit iced green tea, I have been interested in a no calorie sweetener other than splenda, nutrasweet and such. A friend gave me a small bottle of Stevia to try. I did some research on the product and found mostly positive information on it (for something I’ve never heard of before). The question.. what personal experience or concerns does anyone have on this product? Thanks for your input.

Stevia is good stuff. Expensive as hell, but good. A tiny scoop, and I mean tiny, will sweeten a full glass of iced tea. My wife's trainer allows her to use Stevia on her figure-training program. I use it, too, it tastes great. Very sweet, it's easy to use too much because it's so potent.

We bought a bottle of it last year (it's about $20 for a bottle the size of any herb or spices you'd see in the supermarket) and it just recently ran out... we picked up another bottle last weekend. It came with this little tiny scooper inside the bottle that we thought was a joke until we used some of it... that stuff is potent, so don't accidentally over use it!

Do you guys find the stuff to be bitter? Or does that vary between brands? I bought a bottle several months ago, but was put off by the strong, bitter aftertaste. It also said that it was mixedwith grapefruit seed extract. Is that normal?

I absolutely agree that the stuff is very potent though - Just a drop or two can sweeten a whole bowl of oatmeal. I've never had anything that sweet before.

Do you guys find the stuff to be bitter? Or does that vary between brands? I bought a bottle several months ago, but was put off by the strong, bitter aftertaste. It also said that it was mixedwith grapefruit seed extract. Is that normal?

I absolutely agree that the stuff is very potent though - Just a drop or two can sweeten a whole bowl of oatmeal. I've never had anything that sweet before.
I too find it somewhat bitter and from my Scientific testing (dabbing my finger in the bottle) The aftertaste lasts forever. Not so sure about Stevia yet. :confused:

I bought some sachets of stevia that use maltodextrin as a filler. The maltodextrin has a terrible, grainy mouthfeel. I'd suggest buying stevia in a pure powder/liquid form and avoiding anything with fillers.

As for the taste, it's not unpleasant, but it really lingers and tends to overwhelm other flavors. All in all, I don't think I'll ever buy stevia again. I'm currently looking into xylitol (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6027) as a sugar substitute.

I bought some sachets of stevia that use maltodextrin as a filler. The maltodextrin has a terrible, grainy mouthfeel. I'd suggest buying stevia in a pure powder/liquid form and avoiding anything with fillers.

As for the taste, it's not unpleasant, but it really lingers and tends to overwhelm other flavors. All in all, I don't think I'll ever buy stevia again. I'm currently looking into xylitol (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6027) as a sugar substitute.
:confused: After doing some research on Xylitol, I find that it may be the happy medium we need along with some positive health benifits.
Check this out...http://www.laleva.cc/food/xylitol.html