PureVia All Natural Zero Calorie Sweetener Review

I recently received a box of PureVia, a Stevia-based natural sweetener in exchange for my unbiased review of the product.  Nothing new for me, I've participated in this way with a number of manufacturers.

Now as many of you may know, there's this whole thing regarding natural vs. artificial sweeteners going on.  I say let's hold off on any discussion of this issue until we've covered "Does it taste any good?"  Make sense to you?  Good.

Stevia and me

A few years ago one of my lunatic fringe green friends came over the house with a baggy of dried ground Stevia leaves and pronounced cane sugar dead.  So we put up some organic coffee, added some organic milk and stirred in some Stevia leaves.  Well there's a thing about ground Stevia leaves.  They don't really stir in.  They kind of just float around on top.  Aesthetically, it doesn't work for me.  Taste-wise, I found it left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth and an unpleasant sensation in my mouth.  I was diplomatic and above all polite...but I did make sure the baggie left with him.

About this time last year I purchased a box of  Sweet Leaf Stevia Plus.  It was a vast aesthetic improvement over ground Stevia leaves.  However, it did leave an unpleasant taste in my mouth and seemed to leave an odd sensation on my tongue, kind of like a coating.

PureVia

I was looking forward to seeing how PurVia would compare to my favorite artificial sweetener, Splenda.  Of course I was also curious of how it would compare with my earlier experiences with Stevia products.

Having now used it in my morning coffee, afternoon tea and my unsweetened breakfast cereal I have these impressions.  Packet for packet PureVia is not as sweet as Splenda and is not as free of aftertaste.  On the other hand it is a vast improvement over Sweet Leaf Stevia Plus in terms of lingering aftertaste.

As it turns out, PureVia is not a predominantly Stevia-based product.  Of the three active ingredients (all sweeteners) it is listed third behind Erythritol (a sugar alcohol) and Isomaltulose (a derivative of glucose).  In addition to being a sweetener, Isomaltulose is also an "aftertaste diminishing agent".  This may in part explain the reduced aftertaste of PureVia. 

Carb counters should keep in mind that every packet of PureVia contains 2 grams of carbs.  Each packet of Splenda contains less than a single gram.

Price Considerations

PureVia as it is currently sold is a very expensive sweetener.  At approximately 10 cents a paket (or stick) it is about twice the price of Splenda, several times the price of Equal and several orders of magnitude more expensive than Sweet & Low. 

My Viewpoint

One's favorite sweetener is obviously a very subjective thing.  While I can't say I dislike PureVia, I don't see it bringing enough to the party to displace the sweeteners discussed in the section just above.

In terms of taste I place it behind Splenda and Equal but superior to Sweet & Low.  Of course your taste may differ.

Rudi