Stevia The sugar substitute

A new product Natvia, is advertised on TV. I googled and found products with names ending ___via  are all the sugar substitute. 

The main ingredient is my Stevia plant. The leaves are very sweet, but it has a distinctive taste. My sister, a Professor in plants attended a conference and the main issue was how to remove the bitterness.

Stevia is a sweet leafed plant, part of the Chrysanthemum family. The leaves of the Stevia plant have an incredible sweetness that is 300 times sweeter than sugar.

For a while, the plant was growing nicely. Then in summer, we had a heat spell and my poor plant got sun burn.  I tired to revive it by taking it indoors. I was too late. Now it is too cold, and I have lose interest. It's dead. There goes my experiment. May be it grows better in a tropical weather. 

How to use your stevia leaves.
1: Pluck one big leaf,crush, steep it in hot water, and use this to make your cup of tea or coffee.

2: Dry your leaves in the sun, pound it with your mortar and pestle, or a blender to a powder.

3: use this powder as sugar substitute. it is very sweet, 1 tablespoon is equal to one cup of sugar.

claims: stevia is 30 times sweeter than sugar.