This pure powder has a larger percentage of glycosides and is thus more potent in this category than other stevia brands, such as KAL. The flavor is mellow and the product does not have a bitter aftertaste, although the taste can be overpoweringly sweet when more than the correct quantity is used. This is a great all-round product that can be used in baking as well as in beverages, thanks to its solubility.

There are a few slight drawbacks, in that there is no scoop or spoon included in the product, and that the packaging is slightly deceptive to the eye: the 1oz (28gr) bottle seems large but is only about 40% full. This may not be a big deal for some, but we felt it was important to note nonetheless.

As a last remark: if you buy the big 1lb (450gr) bottle, it might be incorrectly labeled to contain maltodextrin. We have confirmation straight from NuNaturals that this is indeed a labeling error, and that this product does NOT contain maltodextrin. NuStevia is a best-selling stevia product in many online stores, and gets a lot of great reviews from consumers and stevia specialists alike.


2. KAL Pure Stevia Extract

KAL pure stevia powder is ranked #1 on Amazon in its category. It’s organic, pure and has no added ingredients. 

The bottles contain slightly more powder than the NuNaturals ones: 3.5oz (100gr) as opposed to 1oz (28gr), with the price being around and about equal. The downside is that a slight bitter aftertaste is discernable if you use too much of the powder, which is why it just falls short of the top spot, although it is a close second. 

We have found that it dissolves well in both hot and cold liquids, and that it is best used in coffee. Another bonus is that a small scoop is included for aiding measurement.

3. SweetLeaf Stevia Extract

The SweetLeaf pure stevia extract has a kosher certification and, like the others, contains no fillers. No scoop or spoon is included and again, there is a slight bitter aftertaste if too much of the powder is used. 

We have found that the powder tends to get lumpy after a while and does not dissolve all too well. Nevertheless, it’s all about personal preference, and while this product might not work for some, there are others that still swear by it and laud its taste.

Liquid stevia extract is a very popular choice among stevia lovers. It's not as concentrated as the white powder, and often additional flavors are added to the liquid, such as chocolate, vanilla, raspberry and so on. Stevia liquid is sold in convenient dropper bottles and has a long shelf life. The products are easy to carry along with you in your purse whenever you go out to a restaurant and don't want to use the artificial sweeteners on offer there! Let's have a look at our top picks for liquid stevia extract:

1. SweetLeaf Clear Liquid Stevia

Why is this our top choice? 

SweetLeaf is known for its dominance in the liquid stevia category. Their products have the least licorice or bitter aftertaste of all the brands, and they also have the largest array of flavors for fruit sorbets, shakes, or other sugar free recipes. Some of them are vanilla, English toffee, chocolate, lemon drop, berry, hazelnut, Valencia orange, root beer, peppermint, grape, cinnamon and apricot nectar.

We have found that their clear liquid stevia works best in home-made lemonade, tea and – for some – in coffee and the milk for your breakfast cereal. Usually, a mere 4 to 8 drops are sufficient to successfully sweeten food or beverages.

No alcohol is used in the processing of this product: only grapefruit seed extract is used for preservation purposes. It dissolves well and doesn’t make your drinks cloudy.

2. NuNaturals Clear Stevia Liquid

A close second, NuNaturals clear stevia suffers from a slightly less convenient and consistent dripper on its glass bottles (not on the plastic ones though). But that’s just about the only drawback: NuNaturals has impressively expanded their flavor range and is SweetLeaf’s closest rival in the liquid category.

The greatest merit of this clear stevia, is that it’s the most potent of all the brands. It’s not syruppy and works well in yoghurt, recipes with fruit and various desserts. There is no bitter aftertaste and it has a mild flavor, although it must be said that this product contains alcohol and vegetable glycerine. 

NuNaturals also sells a liquid stevia variant without alcohol, if that’s a problem for you in any way. The liquid dissolves well without cloudiness and has a long shelf life.

3. NOW Foods Stevia Liquid Extract

NOW stevia liquid contains 11% alcohol, which ensures that the product can be kept at room temperature without any loss of quality – liquid stevia products that do not contain alcohol should always be stored in the refrigerator for optimal results.

The product packaging states that sedimentation may occur, although we personally did not detect any problems in this department. The biggest upside to buying NOW products, is that the brand is very cheap.

However, the liquid is less sweet than other brands, and overcompensating this by adding more leads to bitterness. Therefore, the NOW liquid stevia is not ideal for recipes that require a larger amount of sweetener. It is best used for sweetening beverages.

We also noticed the formation of a gummy residue on the bottle after a while, making the cap somewhat difficult to remove.

Most stevia packets are about 98% filler and 2% stevia extract. This means that there is a small amount of carbs and/or calories attached to this form of stevia. Be aware of this false advertising. For a pure stevia experience, try the white extract powders at the top of this page.

Nevertheless, stevia packets are still hands down the most popular form of stevia, according to our "favorite brand of stevia" poll. The top three brands that came up, all produce stevia packets almost exclusively. Here's what our visitors selected to be the best stevia brands for stevia packets:

1. Stevita Spoonable Stevia

Why is this our top choice?

Stevita is the pioneer of stevia in the United States. The company, founded by Oscar Rodes back in 1988, was the first to introduce stevia on a large scale in the US, and many still swear by its products. Therefore, it’s no surprise that a majority of our visitors have voted for Stevita as their favorite brand in our poll.

We think that their best product is Stevita Spoonable, which is pretty potent: one packet equals about three packets of sugar. Erythritol is used as a filler in this product, which doesn’t clump but the aftertaste of Spoonable seems to be somewhat of a hit or miss. Some people like it, some don’t. We encourage you to try it out and tell us your findings!

2. Stevia In The Raw

Stevia in the Raw is a close second in our website poll. The company only has two products: these packets, and a bulk "cup for cup" variant for recipes that require larger quantities of stevia.

It is less potent than Stevita Spoonable and needs about two packages to sweeten a normal-sized drink. The upside however, is that even in higher quantities, we concluded that Stevia in the Raw has the least aftertaste of all the brands in the packets category.

This product uses dextrose as a filler, which might turn some people off because it adds to the calorie count. Subsequently, the “raw” part of its name might be the subject of debate, albeit containing about ten times less calories than regular household sugar.

3. Truvia

Truvia is Cargill’s infamous FDA approved stevia sweetener, which means that it can be found in just about every supermarket. It completes the top three of our poll and contains about 3 carbs per packet, because it uses erythritol as a filler. Be sure to keep this in mind when using Truvia in your sugar free recipes.

There is no bitter aftertaste, although the erythritol is clearly discernable and the product obviously doesn’t taste like regular sugar. That said, regular users will not have to worry about desensitizing to the product. Amazon is the only bulk seller of Truvia that we know of, and at a great price as well, which makes it worth checking out.
   

Some brands have been reported to dissolve quite poorly. This seems to be a common problem with a lot of brands, but we have taken the time to select only the best stevia tabs for your convenience:

1. NuNaturals Nustevia Quick Dissolve Tabs

NuNaturals wins another category! Why? Well, because we have found that they produce the only tabs that dissolve consistently well in iced drinks, as well as in hot beverages. The tablets melt fast and thanks to their large size, they are dense and break into smaller pieces effortlessly. 

The bottle contains an adsorbent packet and a cotton ball inside, to prevent the tablets from moistening and clumping together, which we felt was a nice touch.

As with most of the NuNaturals products, their tablet range is also more potent than that of the competition, with one tablet equaling 2 lumps of sugar. For most people, just half a tablet will suffice for their everyday coffee, which effectively doubles this product’s value. This one’s a winner!

2. NOW Foods Better Stevia Instant Tabs

The NOW Foods brand has been around for over six decades, and in that time, they have built an outstanding relationship with their customers, based on their range of solid products. Many people swear by this brand, although it's not one of the big guns in the industry.

As we’ve said before, NOW consistently beats the competition’s prices time and time again. Unfortunately, this does seem to have its effect on product quality. The tablets have trouble dissolving in cold liquids and their taste is noticeably less potent.

As with liquids though, the bottles are convenient to take with you and we thought the pop-off lid was a nice bonus compared to NuNaturals’ screw top. The NOW tabs also contain chromium which helps to sustain your metabolism. Despite the fierce competition in this category, NOW thoroughly deserves its silver medal!

 
3. SweetLeaf SteviaTabs

The least potent of the stevia tabs, a SweetLeaf tablet is about equal to one teaspoon of sugar. The upsides are that the tabs are gluten and lactose free and that the bottle contains a dessicator packet to keep the moisture out.

That said, we have found that the tablets dissolve slower than other brands and do not dissolve well in cold beverages. If you’re fan of the SweetLeaf taste, you might not be bothered with this, but as a neutral spectator, it’s hard to be terribly impressed by this product.