Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off I want to reiterate what another reviewer mentioned.... that this is a sugar-free, carb-free sweetener, that will add A sweetness to whatever you put it in, but it will NOT replace the taste of actual sugar. Sugar is sugar....and since it can be so damaging to our health, can you imagine how rich any person or company would be if they could make a product that was completely sugar-free, but tasted IDENTICAL to sugar?! Such a product would probably be rated as the top selling item on Amazon, and I'd no doubt be stocking up on it myself! I'm not trying to be facetious or anything, just honest. Some people know this, and are just looking for a possible alternative to the various other sugar-free sweeteners out there, but I think some folks actually misunderstand the positive reviews and think they are ordering something that will replace sugar, but taste JUST like sugar. If that is what you are looking for, this item probably......ok ok, definitely, won't work for you. However, if you are looking for a natural alternative to aspartame or sucrulose, or something else besides stevia or xylitol (or other sugar alcohols like xylitol, such as erythritol), then this may be a good option for you to try. As for me, I've tried them all! It does come down to personal taste, and what you like (or don't like) mixed in with your sweetener. I don't mind stevia, and have used it, but I find that I like the taste of monk fruit sweeteners more (I've never had the chance to try any actual monk fruit). One of the few monk fruit brands that can be found at some stores is the Lakanto brand. It is mixed heavily with the sugar alcohol erythritol though (many stevia brands also include erythritol in their ingredients- either erythritol or dextrose). Erythritol is completely carb-free (unlike dextrose), but some people can have digestive sensitivities to sugar alcohols, or find that they have their own aftertaste like stevia does. This NOW brand of liquid monk fruit is, to me, the best of any non-sugar sweeteners I've tried, and I like that it doesn't have any artificial preservatives, sugar alcohols or dextrose added to it. As a side note, "sugar alcohols" are oddly named, they do not contain any ethanol, and can be found in some fruits and vegetables. Ok, back to the review. I've used Monk Fruit in the Raw in the past. It comes in packet form....and it took MUCH more product to sweeten something than even these drops do (as compared to, say, stevia packets). So, that part MAY be related to the Monk Fruit, but when you look up the price of other of monk fruit products, this isn't that cost prohibitive in comparison (again, in my opinion- the only thing more personal than taste is people's view of money ;-)). I'm on my 3rd bottle of it, and I started the first bottle the 1st of February of this year, 2019, and tomorrow is June 1. I also have to use a bit more than what is suggested on the bottle to get the level of sweetness I want. But the bottle does allow you to control the drops MUCH better than many other bottles used for these types of sweeteners. I hope this helps. I know I'm always leery of trying something new (because it's no fun wasting money), and often read the reviews to see if anything is posted that maybe useful in my decision making. It's unfortunate companies don't give out small test samples like they used to do in the days of my youth (or so I seem to remember anyway, lol!) ;-)