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The Ultimate Stevia Water Smackdown
If you’re reading this you're likely in my position, knowing you don't drink enough water but hoping for a sweetened alternative that isn't filled with artificial stuff like aspartame. I'll leave all the subjective debate over the taste of stevia itself to other reviews. If you're buying these products I'm going to assume you are already familiar with how stevia tastes as a sweetener compared to other sweeteners out there.
The purpose of my review was to test the flavor of all the Stur and Sweet Leaf Water Drops and find the best tasting ones from the bunch. In the photos you will see that I purchased the variety pack for both brands which included a total of 11 flavors. Each flavor was added to an equal amount of cold water, 8 oz with an attempted similar squeeze to each glass of the flavor drops. This is the suggested amount for both products.
Between each drink I drank regular water to try and cleanse my palette. Please keep in mind that everyone has a different idea of what tastes good. Your results may vary drastically from mine. Below are my notes.
Stur Flavors
Tropical O-Mango - Too artificial. The orange note is too floral.
Boldy Blue Blackberry - Very mild in flavor compared to all others. Might be good for someone who wants a very subtle flavor but I found that you would have to add more of this one than the others to get the same strength.
Pomegranate Cranberry - After learning how to spell pomegranate correctly... ok... this one had just an odd flavor and to me didn't evoke either fruit. Possibly more cranberry than pomegranate. This one might appeal to those looking for something with a bit of a sour note.
Fruit Punch - Good. A fairly predictable flavor if you are familiar with fruit punch from other artificial drinks but this one tastes more subtle and natural.
Strawberry Watermelon - The best of all the Stur flavors and the best out of all the flavors of both products. A very sweet pleasantly smooth flavor with the brightness of the strawberry hitting at first then the earthy watermelon trailing after.
Sweet Leaf Water Drops
Lemon Lime - Not so great. The lime left a bit of a soapy aftertaste.
Mixed Berry - Very light flavor with too much floral aftertaste
Peach Mango - This one had a very artificial taste. Reminded me too much of peach gummies.
Raspberry Lemonade - This one was decent but would have preferred strawberry instead of raspberry. The raspberry flavor was too floral.
Tropical Punch - Great. It was complex in a good way with not any strange aftertaste. The pineapple came through in a pleasant way. The best of the Sweet Leaf flavors.
Strawberry Kiwi - The second best of the Sweet Leaf flavors. A great level of sweetness for the amount of drops added. The strawberry and kiwi are equally in concert here with very little stevia aftertaste and no artificial qualities.
To summarize and rank the top four among both brands they are:
1st - Stur Strawberry Watermelon
2nd - Sweet Leaf Tropical Punch
3rd - Sweet Leaf Strawberry Kiwi
4th - Stur freshly Fruit Punch
That's it folks. I hope you find the review helpful. Try the top four I'm sure you'll find one in the bunch that hits the right spot.
June 2018 · Health and Household · verified purchase