Julian Bakery® PureMonk® Sweetener

I love this stuff. It sweetens without the strange after taste-most of the time. The one time I got a weird aftertaste was when I used too much of the sweetener. I used 1/4 tsp of it in a 12-16 oz glass of iced tea. Then I got a brief, odd taste after. I couldn't drink it because it was too sweet for me. Mind you, everyone is going to be different as well all have different levels of taste sensitivity. I read here where the manufacturer states that 1 Cup of sugar=3/4 tsp monk fruit sweetness factor. For my tall glass of tea I use about 1/16th-1/32nd of a tsp and it's plenty sweet for me. I shudder to think of how I'm going to adjust for a small cup or mug of hot tea. A teensy pinch, maybe. Yes, the cost is high at first, but since the sweetness is concentrated, I'd say it would probably even out to be equal to, or maybe even less, than other sweeteners on the market. So it ends up to be pretty cost effective unless you plan to bake with it on a regular basis. Even then, using 3/4 tsp. in place of a cup of sugar will not use it up too fast unless you bake for a living. (I don't know how well it works in baking and cooking. I haven't tried.) One very big thing for me-I have diabetes which I control with diet and exercise these days. I rarely have anything sweet, but I do miss sweet teas. I hate the chemical tastes that most sweeteners impart. I'd never noticed them until I stopped using them completely for months, then had a diet soda. Yeesh. They don't raise my blood sugar, but they do taste nasty. And Stevia does raise my glucose a bit. So I tried the monk fruit. I wanted to see if the monk fruit extract had an impact on my glucose levels. So, not too scientifically, but enough to satisfy me, I tried a little experiment. For three mornings before eating anything, I checked my blood sugar levels then drank a glass of tea sweetened with the monk fruit, then 2 hours later, check it again. (This is a time when blood sugar often peaks after ingesting foods and drinks.) It didn't raise the blood sugar. That makes me feel even better about this product.