I'm very pleased with this medecinal root.
There are very good extracts and roots available shipped from hawaï who rant them as N°1 supplier, especially their awazing C02 extract which a science in itself. Check the supplier section for more information

Now let's talk about preparing the dried roots (fresh root can be prepared the traditionnal way and is known to be superior of course).
It usually comes in powder, if not, best is to powder finely.
To get the best effects out of dried root - and it is hit or miss -
my favorite method is to prepair a milk shake, for this, put in blender :

- One tablespoon minimum of good kava powder
- One half pint to one pint of milk (cow or goat milk is good, if you use wholemilk it can be more efficient but you can use vegetal milk-soy almond, hazelnut or coconut milk is Best!)
- Very important, Add a good teaspoon or two of soy lecithin, all good extracts add some to their recipe cause it make the body absorbs the kavalactones)
- Now use your taste or imagination to make this mixture more palatable: Vanilla powder, orange tree flower essence, pistachio essence, cinnamon, raw chocolate honey, maple syrup or agave syrup etc..

- Mix this for a few minutes in the blender and drink, with this method you eat all the powder to achieve good effects, but I suspect if you'd boil it gently and strain you don't need to eat the powder.

Kava is a great relaxant plant by itself very enjoyable and a very promising alternative to alcohol and drink binging problem. It's anti-stress properties are very famous in naturopathy and phytotherapy.
You get as relaxed, relieved, euphoric and sociable as with good quality ethanol, but the effect are reverse tolerant for some poeple or not tolerant for most, so you won't need to high up the dosage, like salvia divinorum.
It is sustainable farmed plant with a long cultural background in oceany, and if the plant is harvest the traditionnal way, it is not poisonous (only use roots or root extract, never other part of the plant).

Also, it is great synergistic allie, with LSD, Kratom (careful not to use too often, this one is psychologically addictive), low iboga doses (for the end to shut down a bit the long stimulation for bedtime) and probably also with mushrooms or 4aco-DMT, n,n-DMT (no changa or pharmahuasca/aya), mescaline but no cacti fro the same reason as below (as it appear some trich's cacti contain also their own RIMAs, caution is advised).

Do not combine with pharmaceutical or natural MAOI, RIMAs such as Banisteriopsis caapi/ayahuasca, syrian rue/haoma and harmalas alcaloids.

Enjoy you cup of kava and be safe !

Thanks rOm, it sounds like a yummy and very effective recipe!

I still havent tried this root, but I have a dry extract lying around and Ill very soon give it a shot!

Thanks rOm. I've been meaning for a longggg while to get some kava. As an occasional drinker this would be an ideal alternative for me as I don't care for drinking too much. Something about alcohol that just doesn't feel right to me most of the time.

Thanks for the reminder though..I'm going to order some this following week and report back.

I have seen it floating around that Kava has a reverse tolerance effect, I'm guessing similar to Salvia. Has anyone else heard anything about this?

https://docs.google.com/...06pF_qzzjm3zA&pli=1
that is a study done on traditional prep compared to using a blender and helped me get my way down pat. i spent like 4 months trying different way and ive come to use just a lil coconut oil and warm tap water at about 112 degrees feghrenheit and just let sit and periodically blend all day.
also the grind of the kava helps alot and i love pwdery stuff now so i dont have to strain and squeeve and repeat while i brew.
heres some more interesting stuff that dreamer found while he helped me try to foind the first link and then a link from the kava lounge forum im on that has some cool health things about kava.
https://docs.google.com/...ggZQXdll9yoJSt-c3-LuJgw
https://docs.google.com/...U3jWhdC51fP3EdQ3oxc9RPg
http://kavalounge.yuku.com/topic/624#.UFoe-lIw8TA

Swim tried kava kava last year a few occassions. It is very similar to alcohol imho, but more relaxing and less stimulant properties. It is definitly a fun time but the taste is ugg.. not that great. I dont really know how to describe the taste its odd.

Swim has made a CW mix of powdered kava kava, an icecream shake, and an alcohol extract. It is nearly impossible to filter in its fine powdered form doing a CW extract and Swim found it impossible to drink in that form, not really from taste, but from horrible sandy globby texture (even purged from it). The icecream shake/milkshake is a great idea and the best way to go.

The alcohol extract Swim made was extracted 4 times after long filtering and made a bright orange/yellow liqour. It had some REALLY nice effects dang! It didnt taste the best, but then again, liqour doesnt taste that great to begin with. It actually had an anesthetic numbing effect on your mouth and throat when concentrated in the liqour lol.

Kava kava

Two Things one might want to consider:

1. On the kava conossieur Forum i read that alcohol does extract liver unfriendly substances. This goes hand in hand with research into the liver toxicity of kava extracts which almost exclusively focused on alcohol extracted kava.

2. Several Internet Sources claim, that kavalactones are destroyed by heat. So you might want to use cold water only for your extractions.

Obliguhl, Thanks for pointing out the ethanol/alcoholic extraction problems with kava kava.
I only seen and used so far C02 extract which appears to be the most effective way to get the best out of your kava roots.
Now about the heat I'm surprised as I've seen recipes from apparently kava conoisseur where they'd use hot water .
Now I tried to gently simmer some fidjian kava with dark raw chocolate powder and some sugar, in water with a good spoonfull or two of soy lecithin (which helps greatly absorbs the kavalactones, which is a reason why you see it in most if not not all good extract recipient list, with coconut butter).
We need to be lighted up on this hot vs cold water/milk/vegetal "milk" extraction as it may be crucial.

I tried to find a credible source for this besides vendor sites and found one paper hinting at it:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aMo...heN&cpsidt=16296738

"Using gas chromatography analysis, methysticin and yangonin, which are two of the major components, are generally not separated. In addition, the high temperature of the injection port caused the decomposition of methysticin."

But i'm not sure how well this can be translated to making tea.

KK farm writes:



Personally, i will stay on the safe side and just perform cold water extractions.

Kava Kava is the best sleep aid I have found. Valarian makes me groggy the next day and it smells like dirty feet. I have actually come to enjoy Kava Kava's bitterness and usually just slowly shoot down a spoonful stirred up in cold water. I'll have to try adding soy lecithin.

There are also some nice tincture's available.

some things i found on paradise kava's website. i got my extract and candy from them today and they are amazing. the lemon honey one tastes like candy and they are the most potent thing ive experienced.

http://cancerpreventionr...rg/content/1/6/430.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19138991
http://cancerpreventionr...org/content/1/6/409.full

Perhaps some of you can help me with a good cava recipe?
I have ordered powdered kava root and the co2 extract from paradise kava.
Both, me and my girlfriend can get some effects from the extract, but cant feel anything from the breews i make!
This is what i tried so far:

- taken 2 heaped tablespoons of powder, put it in a strainer bag and let it soak for 30 minutes in 250 ml of cool water.
than massage and squeeze the powder for 10 minutes-gulp in one go-> feel nothing
- upped the dose with 3 heaped tablespoons of powder and 1 teaspoon of soy lecithine in 250 ml of water, let it soak for 30
minutes, than massaged and sqeezed the powder for 10 minutes, gulped in one go-> feel nothing
- tried the recipe from rom with milk-> feel nothing
- put 2 heaped tablespoons of powder in a blender with 1 teaspoon of soylecithine in 250 ml of water, mixed for 3 minutes on hig, let it soak for 30 minutes, mixed again, put the brew trough a strainer bag and squeezed the powder for another 10 minutes-> feel nothing
- tried it with coconut milk instead of water and 2 heaping tablespoons of powder, massaged and sqeezed for 10 minutes-> feel nothing
- tried a larger batch! Put 1 teaspoon of liquid soylecithine and 1 teaspoon of soylecithine granules in 500 ml of hot water in a
and mixed until the lecithine dissolved. Than put 500ml of cold water in the blender and waited until the water became room
temperature. Put 9 heaping tablespoons of powder to the lecithine- water mix in the blender, mixed and let soak for 30
minutes. Put the liquid trough a strainer bag and massaged the powder in another 250 ml of water for 10 minutes and gave
the 250 ml to the other liquid making a total of 1250ml. Gulped 2 cups with 250 ml
yesterday and one cup with 250 ml today -> no effects

How much kava are you drinking, till you get effects? Or am i something doing wrong here?
I dont think that reverse tolerance is the problem becouse i can feel the co2 extract- subtile but i can feel it, but i cant feel absolutely nothing from the brews i make!

I made a 1 cup of powder to two cups of liquid ratio (5 heaping teaspoons to 500ml of liquid).
First i squeezed and massaged the powder in the liquid( 250ml water and 250 soy milk) like crazy for 15 minuters.
Than i put all in a blender and mixed on high for 5 minutes, let the powder settle, mixed again and so on for aprox. 20 minutes. Than i strained and massaged and squeezed the powder for another 10minutes. Put the powder and the liquid back in the blender, added 2 tablespoons of oil and some liquid soy lecithin and mixed and let settle for another 20 minutes!
Than i strained and sqeezed one more time for 10 minutes.

When i drank the kava i literaly washed my mouth with it like with listerine lol.
First i drank 250ml and after 30 minutes the other 250ml.

Effects: nearly nothing

???????????
Any other Ideas?

I'd say either it doesn't work with your body or you have bunk kava I guess idk why that spent work.

Hmm, I'll have to try this.

Could I use a substitute for the soy? Coconut oil maybe?

Yea I used to do that before I had coconut oil.

My New improved method for making potent kava kava!

I begin with 1 tbs (or so) per half cup or so or water mixed with a lipid. I have experimented with olive oil (extra virgin and regular), coconut oil (Virgin), milk (cow, goat, soy, almond, coconut) and found that the milks work great at 50% of the mixture or more, without any emulsifier at all. However, the oils I recommend DO NOT USE unless an emulsifier is used, otherwise the result is rather gross. I like coconut oil the most, seems to help more than olive oil. I prefer to use Soy lecithin granules, powder works fine, but if none can be found Egg Whites can be substituted (natural source of lecithin, 1/2 -1 egg white is sufficient for at least a gallon or more liquid) ya honestly not as bad as it seems.

Here is the process- mix warm water 50-50 with a milk of some sort (milk is optional of course but I think it is more potent. I recommend soy or coconut for taste. Add to this 1 tbs powdered kava kava per half cup or so of liquid (I usually grind it up more after I get it for a more thorough extraction). Add soy lecithin or egg white, and mix thoroughly. Here's where the process changes - instead of massaging in a muslin bag or blending, simply transfer the liquid/grains to a bottle (I use a 40oz. Beer bottle) and SHAKE violently for a few minutes. i believe the shaking to be an easier, less messy way to get the emulsion going, and it works really well.I usually shake for a minute or two, wait, and repeat several times over the course of half an hour or so. When this is done, filter through steel mesh screen or a muslin cloth, squeezing as much liquid as possible out. I usually repeat the process while drinking the first cup of the initial pull.

Shaking always seems to get a better emulsion than does massaging in a bag. This is just my idiosyncratic method but it works well!

ipuma will attempt the above recipe with

vanilla almond milk
egg whites

report soon

AluFoilBot, this recipe was tried and thoroughly enjoyed !

Some kava preparation ideas...

Always remember that the resinous kavalactones are soluble in oils or alcohol, not so much in water. If making a drink of kava, some kind of oil in there is critical.

Sometimes I have set up a doubler boiler, with coconut oil or cacao butter and powdered kava, let that heat gently for several minutes and then add tea to it or mix with raw cacao powder and honey to make a base for hot chocolate (what better than kava hot chocolate after a winter's day outside?). Sometimes I strain out the kava, sometimes I just leave the powder in there and drink it all (gross, I know).

These days I've been spoiled, having an excellent blender I just put a handful of root in there with coconut oil and water, and blend the crap out of it for 5 minutes or so. I strain it out using a juicing bag, and then macerate the root some more in the liquid before drinking it.

Another simple trick that's surprisingly good, mix kava powder half and half with honey, then just eat spoonfuls of it. Its tastier than you would think.

The most potent kava preparation I've done is tincturing in alcohol. I think the dangers of alcoholic kava extracts (and kava in general) to the liver have been highly exaggerated. The kavalactones are not even metabolized much by the liver, they pass out of the body unchanged in the urine (for this reason, kava can be used for people who have trouble peeing due to anxiety, it relaxes the smooth muscle in the bladder/urethra. It can also help treat a urinary tract infection!). As long as you are using kava root its a pretty safe herb. If you are really concerned about your liver (or if your liver is already compromised), try taking some milk thistle or other liver-protecting herbs with it.

To make a tincture, I fill a jar with cut kava root, then add 40% alcohol until it is just covered. Let that sit about a month in a cool, dark place, then strain off as much liquid as possible. I do a second wash by filling the jar up again with 40% alcohol, cap it and put the whole thing into a warm water bath for about 8 hours. Strain it off at the end and combine the two washes. This gives the best of both worlds, one cold extraction first to preserve the volatile essential oils, and a second hot extraction to get as many goodies as possible out of the root. A tincture made this way is very potent! 2-3 mL is enough to feel it.

I've never tried making a glycerin-based tincture of kava, but that could be a fun experiment for someone who is concerned about the alcohol in a standard tincture.