I have tried all the natural sweeteners, alternative to white cane sugar. And,
they all have problems. Lately, it came to me that I could try to mix Stevia
with maple syrup as a sweetener.
I brewed up a cup of tea, then I added a packet of Stevia. Sweet but BITTER
aftertaste. Then, I brought it up to final sweetness with a tablespoon of maple
syrup. The syrup you buy is real, but it clearly is dilute. Now, I can drink a
glass of tea, and only use 20 calories of sweetener, and enjoy a great taste
--with no bitter artificial sweetener aftertaste.
Karstens Rage - 07 Sep 2004 16:15 GMT
> I have tried all the natural sweeteners, alternative to white cane sugar. And,
> they all have problems. Lately, it came to me that I could try to mix Stevia
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> glass of tea, and only use 20 calories of sweetener, and enjoy a great taste
> --with no bitter artificial sweetener aftertaste.
Why not just drink your tea "neat?"
You can start by reducing the amount of sweetener in your tea, day by
day, until you aren't putting any in. Good tea, if I recall, is pretty
darn good without sweeteners.
k
magnulus - 07 Sep 2004 22:47 GMT
Stevia often has a bitter aftertaste. I've only found a few ones that
weren't. It's the traditional sweetener in some kinds of tea (yerba mate,
made from a species of holly).
I go for saccharin or Splenda. Licorice in small amounts is also a good
sweetener (and it's often used in herbal teas), but in large amounts it can
react with medications and be toxic to the liver (like people who are on
certain drugs and eat lots of licorice candy- can be a bad combination).
For syrup, I preffer molasses because it at least has some nutrients (trace
minerals and iron). You can get used to the taste.
tintinet - 08 Sep 2004 14:38 GMT
> Stevia often has a bitter aftertaste. I've only found a few ones that
> weren't. It's the traditional sweetener in some kinds of tea (yerba mate,
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> For syrup, I preffer molasses because it at least has some nutrients (trace
> minerals and iron). You can get used to the taste.
Mixing small amounts of different sweeteners may result in a
synergistic effect with diminution or elimination of perceived
aftertaste.
Skinny - 10 Sep 2004 01:31 GMT
> Stevia often has a bitter aftertaste. I've only found a few ones that
> weren't. It's the traditional sweetener in some kinds of tea (yerba mate,
> made from a species of holly).
I found the dried leaf stevia quite different from the white powder
concentrate. The leaf doesn't have an aftertaste (maybe just a little
fennel/licorice taste all the time). I just rub a little leaf to a powder
and sprinkle it into drinks etc, and let it sit a while for the sweetning
effect.
I like getting the little bits of strong taste of the leaf fragments
occasionally throughout the food, but I also tried soaking the leaf in
water and draining it for some 'concentrated liquid sweetener'. Takes a
very little, not like making tea, and less than an hour.
Skinny