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Greetings all you wonderful plant people!
I have a friend who is growing stevia for the first time. It is growing really well, but she is wondering what is the best way to use the leaves. Other places she's asked people said <paraphrased>, "Oh, just buy the powder at the store!" Any insights would be appreciated.
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SF Bay Area
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Re: anyone used stevia leaves?
Sat, June 27, 2009 - 5:05 PMI've been growing stevia too, though my research seems to show that the sweetness of stevia varies widely from one plant to another. I've seen some websites that say to steep it in hot water like tea, others say to dry it and then grind it very finely.
We tried some in tea the other day. It was slightly sweet and I was able to add half the sugar I usually do, but there was a funny aftertaste. So maybe I didn't do it right. -
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Re: anyone used stevia leaves?
Sat, June 27, 2009 - 5:14 PMstevia i've found does have it's own unique aftertaste.. i don't really like it in my coffee or tea... i have used the liquid extact in homemade popsicles and smoothies. i grew some stevia the other year and we made a large batch of lemonade with it. making stevia tea helps get the sweet taste out of it and then adding squeezed lemons and cool it in the fridge. it turned out really good.
i would be tempted to try crushing and powdering the dried leaves for baking use or for adding to other preparations.
it does however have that funny aftertaste though that u mentioned.
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Re: anyone used stevia leaves?
Sat, June 27, 2009 - 5:51 PMThanks, perhaps tha aftertaste something I'll have to get used to. If it allows me to cut the sugar in half as it did I think that's good enough for me. Next year I will order some from a better supplier and get them in the ground early enough to have a respectable harvest. This year was definately an experiment.
Thanks for the input. Please let us know if you try powdering the leaves. I'm curious to find out how that works.
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