Stevia and monkfruit are natural. I prefer the former for most drinks. The latter for teas or similar because it has a very slight fruity aftertaste. Aim for the pure extract powders.
Sugar alcohols are fine. You consume a large amount daily in your food, albeit spread out. Don't hurt anything and some are used for other reasons including surgery. When people first try out a blended product, they may experience discomfort due to not being able to process more than a few grams worth which is what they get throughout the day vs. a single exposure.
Of them I prefer organic xylitol. Some misinformed people would claim they're artificial, they're not, because of how they're processed. Most people have never seen sugar cane in person growing. Not the turned stuff at some ethnic market. Even brown sugar or demerara goes through immense processing, which may include the use of animal bones. Even an alternative like coconut sugar which has a nutty caramel flavor is heavily, heavily, heavily processed, even if organic.
The closest you'll get the pure sugar in the steps sense if you only use something like piloncilo or jaggery, the former Mexican the latter Indian. Crush the stalks, barely any filtration, cook it down for hours to days until it becomes rock hard. A good block or cone of it will last indefinitely if kept dry and out of light.
You could try it yourself. Be forewarned, it's a pain in the ass to grate enough to make something as sweet as you would like it. And if memory serves me correct, you're a Minnesotan, and you guys love your sweet food. You'll get a nice workout cranking it across a cheese grate or similar to get enough for your whatever it is you're drinking or eating.
I told @jkcerda this a few years ago but I've got a hunk of piloncilo I bought in 2009 that we've still got today. I keep it in baking paper in a container with some rock salt underneath to avoid moisture buildup. It seems to get tastier with age. It tastes better than any type of sugar I've tried, be it here or halfway across the world in some "**** hole" as a certain citrus fruit disguised as a human being would say.
It was a 2.5 or 3 lb cone when I bought it. I use a bit of it mainly to enhance flavor and not be the sole sweetener. It adds a depth of flavor to chocolate cake if you grate out 50-100 grams of it. Muscavado is the gold standard brown sugar for baking, but it's not match to this stuff.
Sugar alcohols are fine. You consume a large amount daily in your food, albeit spread out. Don't hurt anything and some are used for other reasons including surgery. When people first try out a blended product, they may experience discomfort due to not being able to process more than a few grams worth which is what they get throughout the day vs. a single exposure.
Of them I prefer organic xylitol. Some misinformed people would claim they're artificial, they're not, because of how they're processed. Most people have never seen sugar cane in person growing. Not the turned stuff at some ethnic market. Even brown sugar or demerara goes through immense processing, which may include the use of animal bones. Even an alternative like coconut sugar which has a nutty caramel flavor is heavily, heavily, heavily processed, even if organic.
The closest you'll get the pure sugar in the steps sense if you only use something like piloncilo or jaggery, the former Mexican the latter Indian. Crush the stalks, barely any filtration, cook it down for hours to days until it becomes rock hard. A good block or cone of it will last indefinitely if kept dry and out of light.
You could try it yourself. Be forewarned, it's a pain in the ass to grate enough to make something as sweet as you would like it. And if memory serves me correct, you're a Minnesotan, and you guys love your sweet food. You'll get a nice workout cranking it across a cheese grate or similar to get enough for your whatever it is you're drinking or eating.
I told @jkcerda this a few years ago but I've got a hunk of piloncilo I bought in 2009 that we've still got today. I keep it in baking paper in a container with some rock salt underneath to avoid moisture buildup. It seems to get tastier with age. It tastes better than any type of sugar I've tried, be it here or halfway across the world in some "**** hole" as a certain citrus fruit disguised as a human being would say.
It was a 2.5 or 3 lb cone when I bought it. I use a bit of it mainly to enhance flavor and not be the sole sweetener. It adds a depth of flavor to chocolate cake if you grate out 50-100 grams of it. Muscavado is the gold standard brown sugar for baking, but it's not match to this stuff.
Last edited:
