EXTRA INFO / WARNING: Be VERY careful as you heat and reduce your mixture on a GAS stove. You are producing alcohol fumes right next to a naked flame, which can cause a fire. Use your extractor fan, or an electric element is even better. Also, Sarah, the concentration of your drops is probably different than the Azure drops which means you will probably need to use a different amount for the same effect. Great video, TFS. As a retired Chemist I just had to add the warning, hope you don’t mind. I know you and Kevin always take safety seriously. 😊
I was wondering if you could sous vide the liquid or pasteurize it rather than simmering it. Would that take the alcohol out of if it would even be necessary to take the alcohol out.
Oh my stars! I was so thrilled to see this video because I had almost a quart of dehydrated Stevia from the only plant I’ve ever grown successfully. As soon as I saw this video, I ran out and bought a bottle of vodka and made the most fantastic Stevia drops I’ve ever tasted. I’m 76 years old and learn something new every day. Thank you so much, Sarah, for this video and all you do to teach us old dogs new tricks!
I love growing stevia. I will grow bee balm, sweet basil, thai basil, spearmint and stevia, pick and dry large batches of this on a shower curtain and when dry, crunch it up to take out the stems, and store in jars as herbal tea. With stevia in it you don't need to add sweetner.
I’m sorry I have to add another comment! One of the biggest reasons I keep watching you guys (besides the fact that I like you ) is that you try new ways to do stuff and if it doesn’t work you’re not afraid to say it didn’t work and why. And as you know that makes it so others don’t have to make the same mistakes! Love you guys! ❤❤❤God bless!!!
I love your videos! You are so knowledgeable, explain everything so well and you have a wonderful spirit which makes your videos very enjoyable to watch ❤
Thank you so much. I live a little east of you guys and am so thrilled to follow your lead when it comes to gardening in this area. I grew some stevia this year and had no idea how to process it. YOU ARE THE BEST!! Thank you.
That will be a project for me to try next season. I grew stevia once quite a few years ago and it grew like a weed but I didn't really know how to use it, so it mostly went to compost. Thanks for the tip about not boiling it because that probably contributed to my failure as well. 😊
When you are having "weather", I wish you would open and close your videos with short scene-setter shots of what is happening outside. The weather where we are watching is different. It helps us have a feel of the location we are watching. I'm in California. I like seeing your fall and winter weather - even your heat spells.
Sarah, You really are an amazing lady! I appreciate all the good homesteading knowledge you and Kevin share, especially recipes like this. Thank you and God Bless!😇🥰
I harvested my 2nd year stevia this year and now I know how to make it into drops. And I just purchased vodka for my vanilla so I already have everything I need including amber dropper bottles! Thank you!
I love your videos!! You are so inspiring and a great teacher. Thank you for sharing! I am growing Stevia in my garden for the first time. I'm excited to process into liquid drops!
You mentioned you were on the Keto diet and that's why you wanted to drop the sugar and said you felt Stevia would be okay because it's a plant. Sugar Cane and sugar beet are also plants, and can be grown at home to produce sweeteners. Is it just the commercially processed sugar that's the issue?
This was a timely video I just harvested a large batch of easy to grow Stevia completely organic. I like to use organic vodka for my tinctures and extracts. I think it takes the product up a whole new level of goodness… Not to be critical, because I think your video was excellent but I think using a plastic spoon in vodka, which is a solvent and then adding heat, is very likely going to release some of the plastic into your wonderful extract. I would use a metal spoon, stainless just like your stainless steel pot and your stainless steel strainer. Making our medicines in our kitchen can be so rewarding. I think the investment and stainless steel measuring cups bowls, measuring spoons, cooking pot strainer and stainless steel. Funnel is an excellent investment and very often can be found at the thrift stores if a person is on a limited budget. Keep the videos Coming! 🍀
Wow! I never would have thought it was so easy. I love liquid stevia (organic, 100%) and although the price doesn't bother me (2 oz lasts about a month - $5) it would be so amazing to try this on my own. Fantastic. :-)
Thank you so much this is the first time I have totally understood how to this. I have been growing stevia for awhile and never knew how to make the drops.
Thank you for creating this video. I am growing my first stevia plant in this year’s garden but didn’t know how I was going to process it. Now I have the procedure right here in my hands. Thank you so very much!!!
Good morning 🙏😊 And thank you again! I’m already planning to grow my own stevia next summer! My husband is diabetic but uses stevia on occasion in his tea. I get it from azure but it would be so wonderful to have my own homegrown stevia! Love your videos Have a blessed week 🙏😊
So thankful that you have shared this "oh so easy recipe!" Great for home and awesome for gifts as well! Blessings on your day Kiddo!🥰🌻🐛💕Carolyn in Ohio
Totally awesome that you made homemade stevia drops! And not any weird additives. Maybe someday you’ll have your own line of homemade products to sell to people that appreciate the quality.
This is right up my alley. Thanks so much. I use stevia all the time. I ordered seeds and will follow your recipe. I do Keto and my husband does Paleo Carnivore. He is down 25 pounds to 143 and wears a 31 inch waist like when we married 52 years ago.
Thank you Sarah !! We were just talking about "what now" after getting a nice pile of dried leaves. I almost ground them and used dry. Still might try a few that way. Time to go to the liquor store.
Made my first batch of stevia drops recently, wonderful to have in the fridge. Important to note that alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water does, so you want to 'steam' out the alcohol, never let it near the boiling point. Once reduced by 40-50%, there will be only trace amounts of alcohol left behind in the drops.
THANK YOU! Was waiting for this video. I have lots of stevia and so looking forward to making this extract! God bless! You have helped me with so many projects on our farm with the gardens and canning!! So love watching your canning videos while I did my canning this summer!!
I eat a Keto/Meat based diet. I don't use enough of any sweetener to make my own stevia drops. But, this is an awesome video that I will keep in my back pocket and share! Thank you Sarah for your very informative and instructional videos.
TOTALLY AWESOME SARAH !! That was amazing to see how simple you can make such a great product so easily. Thanks for sharing with us , keep up the fantastic videos, stay safe and God Bless you folks. Fred.
I am so glad someone has brought up this subject. I’ve been growing my own stevia for several years and had been disappointed in the dehydrated leaves. I never thought about making a tincture, and really didn’t know even what that would involve. I am now going to go buy some vodka and do this with all my saved stevia leaves! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your new kitchen is beautiful and looks so functional. I plan to grow stevia next year and will certainly try your recipe. You and Kevin have been such a blessing to me. I've learned so much from you two. God bless you both.
I made this a couple years ago, but mine was bitter. I will try again using your method. My stevia plant is ready and waiting! Yeah! Great timing! Thanks!!!!! Love your videos.
The trick to avoid the bitter is to never let the plant blossom. I made that mistake and have to start with a new plant. Once it has flowers that’s it.
I have been watching your channel and love it. I am gonna try this one. Thanks for sharing Sarah. God bless you, Kevin, your kids all three and God bless your animals.
Sara I want to thank you for all of your videos. They are very helpful. Some time ago you recommended a sweet pepper that I love. Watching your videos it appears that your jalapeños are very large. I have grown them for many years but I have never grew large ones. So this year I decided to try many different kinds. Only one of them was of a nice size for it was so hot I could not enjoy it. Would you sell me some of your jalapeño seeds? I would like to buy seeds that I know are going to be healthy large peppers.
I used to grow stevia on my porch in Seminole, Florida, and also in the back yard of the house we bought to be my then-husband's business location; where it was SO happy, it rooted into the ground around the pots, and actually set viable seed, which isn't a given for stevia. In the 70s, I used to buy a Christmas spice tea on the Marina Peninsula in the LA, California area, that was naturally sweet without sugar - it wasn't until I was introduced to stevia that I realized it was their "secret" ingredient. I want to start growing it again.
Thanks for sharing a great product ❤. I love my Pioneer Woman coffee mugs, they’re so lovely & refreshing to view when drinking my coffee or tea to start my day 🎉❤
THANK YOU for posting this. I'm thinking of trying the first steps of leaves and vodka for 36 hours, then straining that back into the vodka bottle to store that way on the shelf. As I need the drops I could do the simmering step and store that in the frig.
Ditto! I hung mine to dry for the past few weeks and just this morning I sampled it just to see how the plant tasted. It tasted a little off, so I ended up composting it, sadly. However, this video will have me try growing a different variety of stevia next year.
That's wonderful! Thanks Sarah! I don't like the taste of stevia from the market, it makes me noxious was thinking about growing stevia dry the leaves and grinding them. I know that is bitter but I figured I could put up with it better than the processed ones. Hopefully I will grow stevia next season and dry it. Blessings 💞🙏
Thanks for sharing! Ive been following a keto life style as well. Ive grown stevia before. Im growing it this year and wondered how hard it was to make my own drops ❤🥰🫂
I too grow stevia, but so far have only ground it really fine & add a little to my coffee percolator coffee pot - it amazes me how little to use & how good the coffee is! I will try this to use in baking since I know how now!😊
Thank you so much for sharing this how-to video! You inspired me to grow stevia this year and I have dehydrated enough from my one plant to make drops. Now I know how to do this.
Thank you so much for this video...i smiled when you used a coffee filter for straining... that's what i use when i make tintures and firestarter anything you need to strain . I'm going to do this next year if i find the stevia plant
I love your videos and all of your canning and preserving tips. I loved sugar in my coffee as well. I spent two months in the hospital earlier this year and one day my nephew and his wife brought me a cup of coffee. It had cream but, gasp, no sugar. It was actually really good. Cream is naturally sweet and I've not gone back to sugar or any other sweeteners since them. I encourage you to try it, just once.❤😊
Thankyou Sara, I have never heard of Stevia before and as I am into growing vegies and herbs, I just bought some seeds. I am the same as you, I have been using chemical sweeteners in my coffee to reduce my sugar intake and this sounds like a better alternative and all natural.
Hi, I tried to grow Stevia this year but no luck outside in the uk. Will try again next year in the poly tunnel and hope the extra warmth will do the trick. I only tried as I use it already and was inspired to try growing it by you. Thank you.
Do your stevia plants survive the winter in your greenhouse ? If so can you show how they are taken care of ? If not can you show us any tricks to start seeds. Pretty Please 🌹🌸
💚 Thank you Sara, for sharing this liquid Stevia extract from plant to finished product. Stevia often has an aftertaste that I do not care for..wonder how your extract tastes? Clearly, it suits you! 💚
