The present invention relates to a first sweetening composition comprising a) a natural sweet-tasting carbohydrate, b) a stevia compound, c) rubusoside, and d) tannin, wherein component d) is present in an amount in the range from 1 mg/l to 400 mg/l, or wherein, based on the total weight of components b), c) and d), component b) is present in an amount in the range from 45 to 75 wt-%, component c) in an amount in the range from 2 to 40 wt-%, and component d) in an amount in the range from 2 to 40 wt-%. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a second sweetening composition comprising a) a natural sweet-tasting carbohydrate, b) a stevia compound, c) rubusoside, d) tannin and e) oak extract or pomegranate extract. And, the present invention relates to a third sweetening composition comprising a) acesulfam or aspartame, b) sucralose, a stevia compound, saccharin or cyclamate, c) neohesperidin, and d) tannin in an amount in the range from 1 mg/l to 400 mg/l or wherein, based on the total weight of components a), b), c) and d), the component a) is present in an amount in the range from 10 to 50 wt-%, component b) in an amount in the range from 15 to 65 wt-%, component c) in an amount in the range from 0,1 to 4 wt-%, and component d) in an amount in the range from 5 to 50 wt-%. The present invention also relates to a fourth sweetening composition comprising a) 0,1 to 50 g/l of a natural sweet-tasting carbohydrate, b) 40 to 120 g/l of a natural sweet-tasting carbohydrate different from a), and c) 30 to 300 mg/l of rubusoside. Moreover, the present invention is about the use of said sweetening compositions for sweetening and preparing beverages as well as for preparing syrups as precursors and for the preparation of such beverages. The invention is also about a beverage comprising said sweetening compositions as well as about a process for preparing such beverage.
