Return of the Sweetener Smackdown!

Laaaadies and gentlemennnnnn! It's time for the eagerly-anticipated return of...Sweetener Smackdown!

Ok, well, whether you've been eagerly anticipating it or not, here it is again! You can check out previous episodes here, here and here.

The contender in this latest edition:
NuNaturals NuStevia powder. My pal Janetha B. was almost as sweet as this stevia, and brought some over for me to sample a couple of weeks ago. THANK YOU babe!

I wanted to wait until I'd used up the sweeteners I had before I tried this out, so it's taken me just a bit longer to get to it than I wanted.

The first hing I noticed about his was the difference in texture. The NuStevia had a very fine grain to it, quite unlike the SunCrystals I have taken to of late.
And the next thing I noticed was how SWEET this stuff is. I have been using just half a packet per cup of tea, CCC, yogurt or whatever else I'm sweetening for the most part, and that has been perfect. Half a packet of this stuff, though, is like licking the bottom of a Frosted Flakes bag. Wow. Anyway, so I've been trying just a third of a packet (jeez louise, is THAT ever difficult to portion out!).

I also find this product to have the slight aftertaste that turns so many people off to the use of stevia on a regular basis. It doesn't taste bad necessarily, but it does kind of give a lingering licorice-y effect.

One thing that I really like about the SunCrystals is that there are only two ingredients, very clearly defined as raw cane sugar and stevia. the NuNaturals stevia is a little more vague:
I mean, yes, I'm glad it has stevia in it, but why the maltodextrin? And what other "natural" flavors are they talking about? Isn't it just supposed to be flavored like stevia?

For the most part, it's not bad, and I will probably continue to use of my stash before returning to the SunCrystals. I am such a creature of habit! Luckily, it's no longer "THE habit" of sucking down dangerous and chemically altered blue devil packets.

Especially grateful to have a teensey bit of sweetener available for this gem:
You know, I don't even care that they start putting our the Christmas stuff before Halloween if it means that this gets to make an appearance,too. Delicious. Well, I guess I still care a little bit... What are your thoughts on that whole thing? Does it just bug ya to death to see all the glittery ornaments and plastic Santas before the pumpkins are even out of the way?

I totally believe that each season and holiday should be enjoyed to the fullest. thankfully I have selective tunnel vision and can enjoy browsing the aisles of ghostly Halloween goodies with turkey feathers tickling my nose and red-nosed reindeer breathing down my back ;)

By the way, thanks for encouraging my pathetic poetry on Friday, and I was glad to see that many of you got a laugh at the his and hers plates--I knew you would be able to relate!

Hope your week is off to a glorious start (or at least a start, right? I take what I can get. lol) xoxo