Stevia

[Odsox]

I didn't like stevia though i wanted to. Xylitol is excellent!

I spotted Xylitol while shopping today and I agree with you that it has no after taste, but it is hellishly expensive (over here anyway) at €14.64 per Kilo (abt £11.85) for the same sweetness as sugar.
I think I'll stick to my home brewed stevia for now.

[southeast-isher]

I didn't like stevia though i wanted to. Xylitol is excellent!

I spotted Xylitol while shopping today and I agree with you that it has no after taste, but it is hellishly expensive (over here anyway) at €14.64 per Kilo (abt £11.85) for the same sweetness as sugar.
I think I'll stick to my home brewed stevia for now.

I know what you mean. I got some off a well known online auction site and paid five pounds but can't remember how much i got.... not that much if i remember right, sadly.

[GeorgeSalt]

But what would I do with Stevia?

I don't sweeten my tea/coffee.
It doesn't ferment so I can't use it for brewing or breadmaking.
It doesn't have any structural qualities so I can't use it as a sugar substitute for baking (a sponge with no sugar? a crumble with no sugar?).
It doesn't have preservative qualities so I can't use it for cordials and preserves.

[Odsox]

You can use stevia extract in baking, all my cakes and buns are made using stevia, plus it is invaluable in sweetening cooked fruit (gooseberries, rhubarb, cooking apples etc.) and can also be used to make custard.
Although I will admit that my buns are more like scones in texture, but still very edible for me as a diabetic and some cake together with the custard and jelly made from fruit juice and gelatine makes a very nice trifle.
Talking of fermentation, stevia would be very useful to sweeten a light home brew wine without restarting fermentation and (for me) is the zero sugar option for sloe gin.

Plus I grow it myself.

[harðfiskur]

I recently read about stevia being a no calorie sweetener, as well as fully natural, therefore the other day I have bought a stevia "sugar" as well as sweetener size tablets. The honest opinion is that I didn't like it at all. The sugar has a minty taste after flavour and the sweeteners tablets just tasted bitter! Is that how they are supposed to taste?

[Green Aura]

I agree, harðfiskur, I can't get past the bitter aftertaste (I've never noted any minty tones though). But as I rarely use sugar I figure the small amounts I do use aren't really a problem. Plus I use Rapadura instead of ordinary sugar. At least it retains other nutrients in addition to sucrose.