I usually buy stevia glycerite or pure stevia powder for when I'm making things at home, but I purchased these packets to store in my purse for when I'm at a restaurant or travelling. The taste is very pleasant - as with any stevia, if you use too much it will be unpalatable, but a packet or two in my tea tastes just like sugar to me. When I'm baking with more concentrated stevia, I always add a small amount of sugar alcohols or honey in order to mellow out the strong flavor that stevia can have on its own, and the erythritol in these packets is a very nice natural bulking agent that achieves the same effect. (Erythritol is also a good sweetener on its own, so I was happy to see that it here instead of the ingredients that other stevia packet products use.)
Now, when I purchased 4 boxes of Stevita 2 months ago, I got it for a very good price: $2.49/box + $3.95 shipping & handling, for a total of $13.91. It was so cheap that I was scared, despite the positive reviews, that I was buying something inedible. So it was pretty pleasing to find out that the inexpensiveness did not mean a lower-quality product! Right now the price has increased quite a bit, at $5/box with free shipping as an add-on item. That was slightly discouraging to me at first, but then I looked at the other stevia packets available on Amazon:
Purevia: cheaper per count; includes dextrose, cellulose powder, and natural flavors
NOWFoods Better Stevia Original: cheaper per count; includes rice maltodextrin and silica
Truvia: more expensive per count; includes erythritol and natural flavors
SweetLeaf: more expensive per count; includes inulin soluble fiber
Stevia in the Raw: cheaper per count; includes dextrose
NuNaturals: more expensive per count; includes maltodextrin and natural flavors
Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Stevia: cheaper per count; includes organic agave inulin and silica
NOWFoods Better Organic Stevia: cheaper per count; includes organic inulin and silica
The bottom line is: if you handle sugar alcohols well (not everyone does), and if you can't handle/don't like the alternative bulking agents, then I still think you're getting a reasonable price for this product. It really depends on what you do and don't care about, ingredient-wise. As someone who is fine with sugar alcohols but doesn't react well to a lot of those bulkers, and prefers a purer product in general, I'm very happy with the quality of Stevita and will be definitely buying these packets again when I run out!
Xylitol, USDA certified organic Stevita stevia
