Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Stevia Dilemma

stevia
My stevia plant is over 4 feet tall right now. I'm at a loss as to what do with the leaves. I thought I'd read that they tend to take on a bitter aftertaste when dried. I wonder if I can steep them in an alcohol of some kind and extract the sweetness that way. Must do some googling.

12 comments:

  1. I hope you post about what you come up with... I have the same dilemma.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It would probably be easy to make a tincture from the leaves ... just do it like any other tincture ... soak leaves in USP grade grain alcohol. You could probably just freeze the leaves, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good luck with that one, did you google it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Lisa - thanks for the advice! I'll have research more about tinctures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Kel, not yet. I'm hoping to harvest it sometime this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some answers by then.

    ReplyDelete
  6. No help for you from me as I have never grown stevia or made tinctures. I do hope you blog about what ever you end up doing so we can experiment/learn through your experience!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have planted stevia but it is too small to be harvested. Tiny snails seem to love it. I understand that some people add stevia into their coffee. Over here we like to drink a herbal drink called 'Luo Han Kuo'. I intend to boil stevia together with this drink.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have a small big of Stevia and I put some leaves into some Prickly Pear Jelly I was making using less sugar with sure jell...it tasted pretty good, I may not have done it right since it was my own way of doing it..Ginny

    ReplyDelete
  9. You can actually steep them in water and make something similar to simple syrup. Then you could make stevia ice cubes and use them as needed. Keep in mind though that a little goes a really long way. When brewing fresh tea I only ever use two or three leaves for a large pitcher. If you haven't already tasted it before, it does have a very herbally taste and is best only used to sweeten tea. Or, just enjoy the plant as it blooms, then cut it back and mulch it over for winter. It will come back bigger and better every year.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think you could make a tinture with vodka. You got such a big plant, you could try different methods of preserving! Freezing the leaves in icecubes with a little water might work quite well. I hope you'll find out what to do!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is the first year I grew stevia. I dehydrated mine. I use mine in brewed tea also. Usually I crumble the dehydrated leaves in with the tea in the strainer basket while it steeps. Then I add just a little sugar because I like the taste of the sugar. It takes a lot less sugar than without the stevia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Please help me to find STEVIA, Seeds or Plants.I live in North andover, Ma
    Thanks.
    Ricky

    ReplyDelete