Kal makes a straight stevia. A while back they had some maltodextrin in it. They've since have gone back to straight stevia leaf, no other ingredients at all. I buy mine at a locally owned store, but it's available on Amazon too.

There's another brand called Better Stevia, which is organic, and also contains only stevia leaf, also available on Amazon.



[ETA: the organic Better Stevia is made by NOW - and I can buy that locally too. We have a locally owned drug store that has multiple aisles of high quality brands of natural supplements, high quality protein powders that you don't find anywhere else locally, and of course those two brands of pure stevia]


Make sure you're buying the little jars of it, instead of packets. As far as I know, all of the stevia sold in packets has some kind of additive to give it more volume - at least I have yet to find any without some kind of additive. That's mainly because the sweetening power of pure stevia equivalent to a tsp of sugar is only 1/32 tsp - that's such a tiny amount that without something to increase volume, most of it would stick to the inside of a packet of sweetener. The Kal includes a tiny little 1/32 tsp measuring spoon. (much easier than trying to measure it by cutting 1/4 tsp into 8 equivalent parts!)

Kal brand is 100% Stevia extract - Other ingredients: None

It also has no weird aftertaste.

This is where I get it:

https://www.vitacost.com/kal-sure-stevia-extract-3-5-oz

They also have organic:

https://www.vitacost.com/kal-sure-s...organic-extract

(other than being a customer, I have no connection with this company)

There might be other pure stevia brands out there, I chose this company because no stores around me carry it.

Bob

I also get along with monk fruit sweetener, which is what the Wheat Free Market uses. Like in their mug muffins.

I agree with Bluesinger that I love cyclamates. Definitely the best taste, doesn’t seem to have any ill affects for me. I used to vacation in Canada every summer and would smuggle home lots of bottles of liquid Sugar Twin (cyclamate version). It’s been over four years since I went to Canada now and my stash is long gone. I’ve definitely been wanting to order some from Canada.

Splenda is the only sweetener I've had trouble with. I'm 99% sure it's because it contains both dextrose & maltodextrin - sugars that increase blood sugar.

I have no trouble with other sweeteners, but I still don't eat/drink anything with them between meals (as a rule I don't eat snacks), and I don't use them daily. That's not because I'm concerned about the use of sweeteners, but the other ingredients in low carb snacks can be pretty carby in large amounts. And some of them taste so good it's hard to resist!

I looked on the vitacost website but didn't see any packets of stevia with no added ingredients. It would be great to have it in packets for travel, rather than taking the bottle with me and running the risk of it opening and spilling it all over - where are you finding pure stevia packets?

Phooey, after posting earlier in this thread I remembered how much I loved cyclamates so decided I would order some liquid SugarTwin from Canada. And what did I find? That liquid SugarTwin was discontinued in May 2019. Now the only items available are the adultered SugarTwin packets where the FIRST ingredient is dextrose (aka sugar &#128577. Drat, that liquid SugarTwin (no ingredients but water and the cyclamates) was absolutely the best.

I'm not real picky about the flavor of artificial sweeteners, but I remember the same kind of disappointment when I realized that there was no more liquid saccharin available. I must have bought one of the last bottles available in this area when I started back on LC in the early '00s, because I never saw it again after that - the only thing that had saccharin in it was the pink packets, which of course was mostly maltodextrin and junk like that.

Have you tried Apriva liquid sweetener from Kroger/Fred Meyer? It's almost pure sucralose. I've used it for several years now & it works well for most foods. NOW also has 2 Better Stevia liquid sweeteners - Original & Glycerite. Don't know anything about them except that they exist.

THank you.

------------------------

Had a cup of coffee at church this morning( Scout Sunday) and added a packet of yellow sweetener. On the way home I was HUNGRY. Too many carbs last night might have contributed, but I AM SURE the Splenda added to the HANGRY hungries. By the time I arrived home, the ogres had settled down.... but I kept eyeing the left over donuts. Scouts ALWAYS bring donuts. I passed by a couple times until I didnt. Ripped two apart looking for the least damage. Slowly nibbled to enjoy the forbidden carbs. It was a light and fluffy type , not my favorite cake donut, slathered in chocolate icing. Figured the cocoa powder decreased the impact over the strawberry icing!! lol

I blame the failure on the AS in my coffee.

Thanks Bob.

SO far the only local source of Monk fruit is WM, and that is a blend, with real sugar. Grrrr. WHAT is the point of THAT combo??

Will keep looking for monkfruit options though.

Have you tried Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener with erythritol? I got the the Golden & it tastes sort of like brown sugar, but no sugar in it.

I avoid sucralose these days, and I do have some pure liquid stevia. I use it occasionally but it still tastes awful compared to liquid cyclamate.

oh you are right. I should have read the label. I assumed it was real sugar given the brown sugar like crystals.