Stevia

Yes, we used to grow it years ago. It's not a particularly attractive plant and isn't the best way to sweeten things. Although the leaves are very sweet they also have a slight bitter aftertaste.

They're nowhere near as sweet as the extract that is used (rebaudioside and stevioside).

If you want to have a go then here is a useful page http://www.commonsensehome.com/stevia-grow-your-own-sweetener/

A niece of ours in California grows it semi-commercially but her climate is much better. She also makes and sells her own wine.

If you look at the ingredients on most of the, now available, commercial Stevia sweeteners you'll find that they also contain artificial sweetners (They are sold by commercial sweetener companies and contain things such as potassium sorbate).

You want to look for products that, apart from Stevia, only contain water and something such as vegetable glycerin. The water dilutes it to manageable quantities and the glycerin stops it from evaporating - and makes it smoother.

I use a commercial Stevia Extract all the time but it doesn't have any sweetener additives.

The Indians in Brazil sued to make a drink with seeds of Gurana and add stevia leaves. This becomes an aphrodisiac. The seeds have an enormous amount of caffeine so it's now used in commercial 'energy' drinks. In Brazil you can buy blocks of gurana that are made from the dried paste made from the inside of the seeds. The blocks are then grated into hot water and stevia leaves added.

 

Not if it is one of the majority of commercial versions that contain artificial sweeteners as well.

The one I tend to use most doesn't have a taste apart from sweet.

 

It depends on what proportion of extract is in the product you bought.

 

Let us know what the ingredients are and what proportions (if it tells you).