Kava Preparation

[chilli]

I finally got some kava from a headshop here in NZ, it says "KAVA KAVA - The dried root and lower stems of a South Pacific Island shrub"

I've never tried it before, and have a few questions I was hoping some of you plant heads could answer.

First, it says to mix 1 tablespoon with a hot drink, and to make sure to drink the grit, but all preparation methods I've heard of say to strain the plant matter out before drinking? I've heard of instant kava mixes, but by I don't think this is that, seems to be just the ground roots.

Also, because of my tendencies towards toxiphobia I want to just try enough to get a feel for its effects and potency, would 1 tablespoon be a good place to start? Assuming its strong, what effect would that amount have, and assuming its weak, same question?

Thanks, all nfo preciated.

[Chiral]

Kava's not that potent in my opinion..start with mixing 3 tablesponns with a litre of warm water and filter thru a cheese cloth and then drink in gulps say 1 midi glass and wait for for the effects..its kinda nice, very relaxing in lower doses and kinda fluffy.

enjoy.

H.

[JDanger]

I normally put about half a cup of powder, 2-3 cups of water and a bit of milk in a blender. Leave it on for 1-2 minutes, then strain the liquid a couple of times, squeezing the captured grit to get more of the goodies out.

Apparently the fat in the milk helps absorb more of the kavalactones out, but don't quote me on this. Tastes alright too, then again, I haven't tried it without the milk. It's kinda like a milkshake, one could even add chocolate topping if kava isn't to their tastes.

Generally I'd drink this over a couple of hours, so you could use much less to get a taste of the effects. Couldn't help you with potency though, I've only tried a couple of batches.

Happy kava-ing.

[PhantomTurkey]

I finally got some kava from a headshop here in NZ, it says "KAVA KAVA - The dried root and lower stems of a South Pacific Island shrub"

I've never tried it before, and have a few questions I was hoping some of you plant heads could answer.

First, it says to mix 1 tablespoon with a hot drink, and to make sure to drink the grit, but all preparation methods I've heard of say to strain the plant matter out before drinking? I've heard of instant kava mixes, but by I don't think this is that, seems to be just the ground roots.

Also, because of my tendencies towards toxiphobia I want to just try enough to get a feel for its effects and potency, would 1 tablespoon be a good place to start? Assuming its strong, what effect would that amount have, and assuming its weak, same question?

Thanks, all nfo preciated.

I tend to use Murple's recipe for preparation:

http://www.erowid.org/plants/kava/kava_recipe1.shtml

Maybe make it a bit smaller...I found it to be more that was required for the night first time around...maybe calculate it to a smaller ratio then work up to what is right for your needs.

[rahli]

I've read that the addition of lecithin helps to extract the lactones into solution.

[Teotzlcoatl]

Mix all this in a Blender-

Kava root powder

Soy Milk

Ice

Vanilla Extract

Honey

[Garbage]

Try drinking yoghurt in the blender with a good handful of the stuff.

Strain if you dont want straw between your teeth.

Leave surplus in the blender and reblend before straining another cupful.

Drink up!

[Vagdevi]

It depends wether it's instant or traditional!

If the instructions say to just mix with water then it would be in the instant form unless the people that wrote the instructions don't know what there doing.

If the Kava root powder is in the "traditional" form. It needs to be strained/squuezed to get the goods out of the fibrous powder and into the water. Not milk or anything like that. I don't know why people use anything but water.

You got to take your time with squeezing. being patient to squeeze for quite a while to really get the kavalactones out of the fibre. just keep squeezing the straining cloth. A good cloth to use is peticoat material for the second strain. use something coarser for the first strain like some synthetic material from a fabric shop. Remeber to take your time straining. Thats the most important thing. After you've done it a few times you'll get better and your method you use to get the goods out will get better. after straining you discard the fibrous root. it's cool to drink the very fine grounds left over at the bottom of the bowl or strain them out with peticoat material doubled over. either way is fine.

If mixing a large amount of Kava, like alot for a few people or more you will need to mix it all in the water really well then scoop a cup or two into a straining cloth in another bowl. Otherwize if you put all that Kava, like a couple hundred grams, all in one straing cloth, the ball of kava to squeeze will be two big and it will be difficult to squeeze and get the goods out of the root fibre therefore wasting all the gear. IT's ALL IN THE SQUEEZE. Thats how a KAva drink becomes potent. Some people think it's mild. ha tell that to my friends who had kava for the 2nd time last night. 3 glasses full over a couple hours and couldn't walk by the end of it. I had about half that and was heaps stoned. Also, yeah it's all in the squeeze but if the product is not good quality then don't expect much more than a mild buzz. But if it's top gear like Klin Kava then your in for a wonderful treat. It really is a lovely herb that should be respected.

PEace

M

[Chiral]

^^^ what he said is right on... milk and yogurt is for pansies....

H.

[Mr Stay Puft]

Ive tried many methods, straining etc. I get best effects from ingesting powder and all.. just make sure you sift the powder first to remove big chunks and foreign objects.

3 heaped tablespoons and half a glass of water.... chug down... great effects no sedation, slight drunkenness and actually stimulation. Very chatty, like a mild pill.

...or 60-90 capsules downed over an hour, same effects...

Whenever i strain i never get even close to these effects no matter how much i consume!

[PhantomTurkey]

Apparently the milk helps release the active ingredients. In Fiji and other Kava countries they have a virgin chew and spit the Kava root and the saliva serves that purpose...it helps activate the active ingredients. I don't know how it works...something to do with the properties found in milk (apparently) and saliva. There are no virgins at my house so I use milk to activate...otherwise I'd probably drink it with water...I quite like the taste of Kava.

[Garbage]

Not having young virgin boys at my disposal to chew the roots i made do with a blender.

[Garbage]

racist remark removed by mod.

Edited December 4, 2008 by planthelper

[oface]

Not cool man..

[PhantomTurkey]

Each to their own...HAW HAW.

[friendly]

I have a small quantity remaining of an Israeli manufactured 85% kavalactone paste extract, produced by the super-critical co2 process, from before the Great Kava Scare. A pea-sized ball is more than adequate to render one part of the floor. The addition of fats to help absorption was never needed, but I imagine it would greatly increase the potency. Needless to say, it doesn't come out from the cabinet very often, just on special occcasions.

No one makes commercial kava extracts stronger than 30% anymore, it seems.

Pity.

Kava and Sceletium are the only two known (so far) plant materials that are confirmed to act as empathogens.

Edited December 3, 2008 by friendly

[Chiral]

All this talk of Kava has made me venture to usual tiny little hidden away store in the inner west that sells the nicest root powder. Off home with my bag of Kava for a sesh.

The powder I get is very nice and a little bit of raw powder renders the tongue almost completely numb. The woman who sells it to me informs me that her husband mixes cola nuts with it when drinking..I wasn't able to ask why as another customer in the store ignorantly pushed me aside to make a purchase and the conversation was halted..I'm interested to know if anyone else has heard this..she also explained that its very good for lowering blood pressure..nice..!

If anyone has trouble getting Kava where they live PM me and I'll see what I can do.

H.

[planthelper]

garbage, your post mentioning petrol and aborigenis is somehow racist and degrading, you have to edit your post, or i will do it.

racism is not tolerated on this forum!

aswell garbage can you please put all you want to say in one post instead of replying 3 times in a few minutes as you did at mutants ethno garden topic, thank you very much.

[Garbage]

Facts dear boy,the facts are racism and degradation of the Aborigine are the entrenched policies of the Australia government.

If ou feel uncomfortable with the truth it's no use whining at me for change.

Whine at the halfwits.

[planthelper]

lissen, don't patronise me, and call me "dear boy", your post is against forum rules, enough said!

[mutant]

is it against the rules to call you dear boy ???? what did he say???

[Garbage]

Oh you don't get me i'm part of the union.

Maybe not the actors union so i don't have the full weight of the international entertainment industry behind me.

On second thoughts,i probably do deary.

When Allies was of the Jungle... they did an interesting Kava paste,using honey as a binder if i remember correctly.

[tryptamine]

Kava and Sceletium are the only two known (so far) plant materials that are confirmed to act as empathogens.

Saffron, Calamus, Cacti, LSA seeds?

[ThunderIdeal]

agree with stay puft that it's quite chatty (for me at least), which is synonymous with empathogenic.. right?

[blog]

If the instructions say to just mix with water then it would be in the instant form unless the people that wrote the instructions don't know what there doing.

If the Kava root powder is in the "traditional" form. It needs to be strained/squuezed to get the goods out of the fibrous powder and into the water. Not milk or anything like that. I don't know why people use anything but water.

Yeah I don't know what the go is with the milk crazyness. someone just decided kavalactones aren't soluable in water, but soluble in milk, so better stick in milk. The reality is that kava drink is brown because it's kava in suspension. It doesn't need to be soluble in water. Nobody in fiji or Vanuatu uses milk. Probably nobody anywhere does in traditional use.