had a bad experience today; I went to Costco to buy those huge packs of boca burgers only to discover that particular Costco didn’t even carry them!  Plus no samples! That’s what I get for going on weekday.  On my way home, I passed buy a natural food market. Not like whole foods, but more like those hippie, organic, herb-loving, co-op type shop.  I really just went in to browse or maybe find an item or two to review if it wasn’t too pricey.  Lo and behold I found something I was super curious about because stevia had been getting lots of buzz lately.  Stevia is the sugar alternative, alternative. A weird concept, really.  Actually its considered a dietary supplement, so don’t think you’ll be seeing them in little packets at Starbucks anytime soon.  According to sweetleaf, the company that produces many stevia packets and this liquid version I bought, its all natural, zero calories, zero sugar, etc… I am so skeptical of all these claims and the “all natural” claim on top of that! Not that I am seeking all natural products 100% of time, but I feel that an artificial artificial sweetener is bound to have some “un-natural” properties. Anyhow, I was honestly not quite sure what to do with it once I got it. It was a silly impulse buy and on the way home started think, what could I use this for??? The company suggested “As a supplement, add nutritious stevia to water, tea, coffee, milk, sparkling water, protein shakes, plain yogurt or anything else you can imagine.Refrigerate after opening to extend freshness.”.  Hmm ok, but first, I must taste it alone. And o man, maybe I shouldn’t have. It taste like raspberry flavored Robitussin. Bleh, my face squirmed in an undesirable, unattractive way (good thing no hot guys were in the vicinity).  Alright, but I figured, vanilla extract, although smells nice, taste terrible on its own (and yes, I’ve tried it straight up many times, they us it in the “blind” product identification tests we have weekly in culinary school).  Its too hot for my coffee fix, o I thought about blending it in yogurt.  I but some in Fage and I must say it wasn’t too bad. Chocolaty? No way, they can forget that title, but it did add a little dimension and some moderate sweetness to the otherwise tart Fage.  Don’t confuse this splenda or equal, stevia tastes nothing like them (not necessarily better, but not worse, very odd almost alcohol type sweetness).  I’ll try this maybe in my next batch of sugar cookies and let you know how it turned out. Overall grade: B, not terrible when blended, horrifying on it’s own, weary claims, but if the claims hold true, impressive.