Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Stevia for Tea

For my recent article on tea sweeteners, I got to interview Jim May, the man who introduced stevia to the U.S. market. He's quite an interesting individual and it was great to hear his side of the stevia story. I recently tried his brand, SweetLeaf Stevia, and have to admit that it doesn't taste nearly so bitter as other brands. I wouldn't use it for a delicate tea, but I could see it working well with robust tisanes and strong masala chai. If you're interested in a zero-calorie sweetener for your tea, but don't want to use something artificial, there was a recent article in the LA Times on stevia's safety that's worth a read. Personally, I'd rather just have my tea unsweetened or take a caloric beating with honey, but I can see people who want sweet tea and are diabetic or trying to manage their weight really wanting a product like this. Have any of you tried stevia? What do you think?

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