****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
tl;dr: Adds sweetness, but has a noticeably different taste from sugar or artificial sweeteners. A good taste, but different.I ordered this particular monk fruit extract because it seemed to be one of the few that was pure monk fruit, unadulterated with that digestive nightmare xylitol, or with maltodextrin or any other filler. Since it's my first time ordering monk fruit extract, I can't really compare it to any other brand.Went with the 25% mogroside V version because I'm cheap and the 50% just seemed too expensive. Came in a standard-size spice shaker. It's a fine, light-brown powder that flows out VERY easily, so take care when trying to use just a small amount.Warning: It smells like burnt plastic. Ignore that and use it anyway...it tastes much better than it smells.So far, I've used the monk fruit powder in peppermint tea, coffee (to which I'd added cacao powder for a bit of chocolate flavor), lemonade (water + bottled lemon juice), and a porridge of chia seeds, ground flaxseed, coconut flour, and cacao powder.What you really need to know is that monk fruit extract is NOT in any way a straight swap for sugar or artificial sweeteners. While it is very sweet, it DOES NOT taste the same. You WILL notice a difference. The question is whether it's a bad difference, and the answer, to me, is 'nope.'Many people in the reviews have mentioned how very little of it you need to use to get a sweetening effect. That has not been my experience. Maybe it's just my sweet tooth, but I have had to use more than I expected. Definitely not as much as sugar or Sweet n Low, my usual go-to, but more than I thought after reading all the reviews.Next time, I'll suck up the extra cost and try the 50%, instead of the 25%, because it's supposed to be much sweeter.OK, so as far as taste goes...it sweetened both my peppermint tea and coffee, while adding an additional taste that was, I dunno, maybe a little brown sugar-y and nutty. To me, it didn't seem to change the taste of the drinks so much as to enhance them for the better. I've come to prefer them WITH monk fruit, especially the coffee because the nutty effect seems stronger there.Using monk fruit in my lemonade, on the other hand, was no bueno. At all. Yuck. That burned plastic smell I mentioned? Well, that's how the lemonade tasted, too. Like sweet burned plastic. I mentioned this to my doctor in passing, and he said it may have had to do with a reaction between the citric acid and the monk fruit. I'll take his word for it because science.The monk fruit did exceptionally well in my porridge. Took considerably more than I expected to sweeten it to my preference, but did not seem to change the overall taste at all. There seemed to be little difference between using Sweet N Low and using the monk fruit. I was very pleased with the end result.Some of the reviews have mentioned that it's difficult to mix into drinks, recipes, etc because of the fine powder form. I didn't have any of those issues. Mixed readily into hot beverages, porridge, and even cold water (although it required a little bit of extra stirring).The bottom line for me is that I'll continue to use monk fruit to replace artificial sweeteners in most, but not all things. I like the taste and ease of use -- but not the price, although I understand why it costs more.Full disclosure: I had some minor digestive issues a few hours after using monk fruit the first time. Can't swear the two things are related, and the issues have not repeated. Take that for what it's worth.
