Monk Fruit Sweetener - 25%

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.

I recently tried Organifi's Golden Tea, which is delicious, but a bit expensive so I was looking for alternatives. I noticed Monk's Fruit on the list of ingredients, and having never heard of it I dug in and figured out it was the sweetener. Organifi's Golden Tea is Goldilock's "Baby Bear" of sweet, in my opinion - "just right" - so my next step was to find Monk's Fruit that could be used as my sweetener. I went on the hunt with eyes wide open, read reviews of several of the highest rated Monk's Fruit offerings here on Amazon. I liked that this one didn't have any erythritol blended with it, or stevia, or anything else like that - it was just Monk's Fruit. The price was very reasonable, so I took the chance. And I am very pleased I did. It has a pleasant aroma, rather like dried honey, has the consistency of finely ground cinnamon, and is the color of warm butterscotch. I tried it in some blackberry tea - just sprinkled it in - and it dissolved very nicely. There is an aftertaste, it was sweet to me and not unpleasant at all. I also tried it with my "alternative" Golden Tea, and it was Baby Bear all over again - just right. Please bear in mind as you consider this that I prefer bitter things over sweet things to start with - black coffee, dark chocolate (at least 88% cocoa), dry red wine, things along these lines. It doesn't take much "sweet" for it to be "sweet enough" for me. Nothing can be sugar but sugar, but this is an excellent substitute for me. I will definitely buy this again.

Ok I had been a Stevia advocate because I was on Kato Carnivore diet for soooo long and I’d never ever think of using any kind of sweetener other than organic raw and natural in my food. Found this and tried it hoping like hell it wasn’t bitter in the aftertaste like stevia was. Added it to a hot chocolate — raw cacao powder, monk fruit and vanilla essence and cinnamon. Man only the best and most delicious hot choc I’ve ever had! Tried it in my keto Brownies and keto avocado key lime pie and I decided right then and there that Stevia was going to be put aside for ever. About the Taste: The first taste in your mouth is like dark rich caramel type turbinado sugar. Or for those who never tried that dark sugar like a very dark brown sugar. After the initial taste there is a very small hint of a subtle bitterness but.... it is not enough to be unpleasant—you barely notice it! And this was a bit deal for me especially when guests come around and complain about the unpalatability of Stevia. Miracle! So just jump right in buy it you won’t be dissatisfied. ♥️

This is my first experience to try a monkfruit product. I am health conscious about what I take into my body. Sugar is worse than cigarrette, but the taste is good. One day I saw one of my friends cooking with this monkfruit product as sugar alternative. Out of curiosity, I ordered this one. In a couple of days, it was on my hand. In the first a few days, I used my finger to get only a tiny bit of it and taste it. It is so sweet that I was really impressed. However, the taste is still different from that of sugar. It took me a few days to get used to the pure taste. Then I was comfortable to put a little into my food. Gradually I got used to ilthe taste. It tastes sweet, more like curry but it is like sweet curry. I can use it to cook from one kind of food to another. knowing this is a healthy product, I feel ok to use it more often than usual. This package looks small. But it is so sweet, I only consume a small portion. I expect it to last 4 weeks before I order the next one. This is a terrific product for the health conscious consumers like me. The only one improvement I will recommend is to package a tiny spoon with it so that I can measure it accurately each time I use it. But I am getting better in using the right volume now. Try one for yourself.

After reading all of the reviews and obtaining much information about pure monk fruit sweetener, I placed an order for it on Amazon. Even the smallest amount is nasty tasting and I couldn't get rid of the aftertaste. Maybe I was supposed to mix it with something, but I read nothing about having to do this. I am aware that it comes in already mixed forms, but I didn't want the side effects of some of these ingredients. My research showed that pure monk fruit was the way to go. I put a small amount on my finger and the horrible taste made me shake my head and run for something to dismiss the awful taste. Still, I made a low carb cheesecake with it, using very little and had to throw out the entire cheesecake. Even my garbage disposal tried to regurgitate it!!! I have made lots of low carb cheesecakes with other substitute and natural sweeteners and they have been good. No return on this Monk Fruit sweetener so I will throw it in the trash and hope the trashcan will not spit it out

This doesn't have the same bitter aftertaste that comes with stevia options, but it is also not as similar to sugar's flavor as you'd get from Splenda or Equal. The flavor is unique and took me a few times to get used to. I did not appreciate it at first, but now I find it tolerable but not craveable. It has a powdered texture similar to ground cinnamon and may take a bit of stirring to dissolve into your coffee. If you like a dash of cocoa and/or cinnamon in your coffee, this works in well. Otherwise I like it most when blended with sugar or honey to split the benefits of taste vs calorie reduction. Maybe the more concentrated version would be better?

Healthy alternative to sugar, without the strong bitter taste of Stevia. Furthermore, Stevia is extensively processed to remove some (not all) it's bitterness. This process typically leaves unhealthy chemicals behind. Monk Fruit tastes much better than Stevia, although it works much better in some foods (especially liquids) than others. (Aspertame, Sucralose, etc. are unhealthy choices which for me would never be considered for use.) In some things Monk Fruit tastes like sugar. An example is in hot tea with lots of half-and-half (the way I like it). But there are other things in which it does not taste good, especially if it's not a liquid, or otherwise fails to get completely dissolved. Whatever it does not taste as good in, normally a liquid form of Monk Fruit Extract works well--the liquid extract tastes just like sugar, and with no unpleasant or bitter taste. I always want to have both around. They usually come in about 2 oz. bottles.

I've been on the NAMANNA brand of Monkfruit (Mogroside V25%) sweetener for the last few years. After testing around, I've found NAMANNA to supply the highest consistent quality Monkfruit sweetener that suits my tastebud. However, my most recent purchase has gotten me worried. As my previous container was close to empty, I opened the new container and immediately noticed the difference in quality. You can easily tell the refinement quality of Mogroside V from the color of the Monkfruit powder. Lower quality (less sweet) powder will go down the gamut of a darker brown color while higher concentration of Mogroside will go from off yellow-white to milky white. I've always used Mogroside v25% from NAMANNA and the color of their Monkfruit powder has always been consistently off-white and slightly yellow in color. The dark brown (as shown on the right side in my photo) is a tell-tale sign that the quality has diminished. The best case scenario is that this was incorrectly labeled and packaged or worst case, NAMANNA is selling this deliberately hoping people would not catch on. I'm honestly disheartened to pay for Mogroside v25% while getting something that's probably closer to Mogroside v10%. I'll update this review on the sweetness once I finish my previous batch. I've been on this brand for years so I'd be able to tell immediately if it's less sweet and/or if the flavor profile has changed. EDIT: 02/14/24 - My suspicions were correct. The new batches of Monkfruit sold by NAMANNA is no longer the same as before. I had to use more than twice the amount of sweetener from the new batch just to get the same level of sweetness that I'm used to.