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Ways to make the taste of kava more bearable

M

moff000

Kava Enthusiast
I always make a batch up with warmish water and find that a struggle on the first couple of shells. I then put the rest into the fridge over night and after it's chilled it's wayyyyyy easier for me to get down.
Now i have just done a batch where i used hot water and left it to soak in a pan for about 2 hours. After the 2 hours i spent 10 mins squeezing the life out of it. Anyway i noticed that this batch had a very thick consistency in the bottom of the pan and i really struggled to neck it..... Back to my original method me thinks.
 
C

Cmessier

Kava Enthusiast
I thought mixing it with acidic things like lemon or lime juice killed potency? Am I wrong?

Ive been really struggling with the taste lately. I cant get a good krunk because I just cant swallow enough. Id love it if I could make it palatable.
 
K

Kavaguy

Kava Enthusiast
Mike from Kalm with Kava said the citric acid tends to cause kava to have more of a sedating effect. And I have read on the forums that Vitamin C inactivates kavalactones.
 
mdmace

mdmace

Kava Curious
Kavaguy said:
Mike from Kalm with Kava said the citric acid tends to cause kava to have more of a sedating effect. And I have read on the forums that Vitamin C inactivates kavalactones.
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You know I make a mean kavarita and I never notice any difference between it and my kava iced chai. The kavarita I make uses real lemon and lime juice. So there's that. I'd could buy into what Mike says. The kavarita tends to hit me faster than my iced kava chai, but the kavarita has half the liquid mixer as the chai so it just might be that I drink them faster.
 
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Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
Zargonof said:
It's all about balancing the two to get a good ratio. It's not about getting krunk when mixing the two. If you use to much of one over the other they will just cancel each other out. A strong kava can prevent the caffine from doing is job if not done correctly. I have yet to perfect anything. But i have a recipe in the works that's close i think.
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I'm more concerned with getting a strong kava effect so I'm happy to sidestep the caffeine. I do like a yerba mate in the morning though. Definitely got to be careful with hydration though.
 
C

Cmessier

Kava Enthusiast
I tried it with lemon juice. Still tastes awful. I dont notice any difference in effects. I had a huge meal about 8 hours ago and that is diluting the krunkeness to a small degree but it doesnt seem the lemon had any effect at all.
 
Zargonof

Zargonof

Kava Curious
Cmessier said:
I tried it with lemon juice. Still tastes awful. I dont notice any difference in effects. I had a huge meal about 8 hours ago and that is diluting the krunkeness to a small degree but it doesnt seem the lemon had any effect at all.
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Did you add any sugar?
 
Zentri

Zentri

Kava Enthusiast
theGrogfather said:
Lol.
Tried this once, so thick and nasty. Potent tho
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I tried the GHK method the other night and not sure if I did something wrong or what, I used 5 tablespoons of kava (he said he uses 4-5 in the video) and 2 cups of water (which he also said)

He added 1 cup first which I did, started boiling and he said if it was too thick to add the rest, which I also did, I didn't even really boil it because it got so thick it never really "bubbled" much but it did get hot and I cooked it like this for a couple minutes.

Then when I tried to strain it with my Kavafied strainer bag it was so ridiculously hard to strain that it was mostly just a bag of water I felt like I would pop it .. it was also ridiculously thick and felt like watery vomit on my hands (just had to say it lol) and I had to add more water to even make it strain, maybe around 1 cup.

It seemed pretty strong, definitely tasted worse, but almost seemed like it was missing some of the numbing effect. I think because it was so much liquid it just wasn't as strong as I wanted.

I normally would use 4 tablespoons in about 2 cups of warm water with the kavafied strainer bag or Aluball's and that tastes better, has a better texture when it comes to drinking it and seems to be just as strong .. I almost felt like the heating method wasted my time and some of my kava but I can't quite go as far as to say that.

It didn't really seem any stronger though sadly.
 
Palmetto

Palmetto

Thank God!
Split a kava mixture in half. Add 1/4 of a Tums tablet (antacid) to one sample before you boil. Boil the other sample without an antacid and compare the taste. To me, the antacid removes most of the bad taste, but the potency is still there.
 
theGrogfather

theGrogfather

Sipping on Waka juice. Laid back
Zentri said:
I tried the GHK method the other night and not sure if I did something wrong or what, I used 5 tablespoons of kava (he said he uses 4-5 in the video) and 2 cups of water (which he also said)

He added 1 cup first which I did, started boiling and he said if it was too thick to add the rest, which I also did, I didn't even really boil it because it got so thick it never really "bubbled" much but it did get hot and I cooked it like this for a couple minutes.

Then when I tried to strain it with my Kavafied strainer bag it was so ridiculously hard to strain that it was mostly just a bag of water I felt like I would pop it .. it was also ridiculously thick and felt like watery vomit on my hands (just had to say it lol) and I had to add more water to even make it strain, maybe around 1 cup.

It seemed pretty strong, definitely tasted worse, but almost seemed like it was missing some of the numbing effect. I think because it was so much liquid it just wasn't as strong as I wanted.

I normally would use 4 tablespoons in about 2 cups of warm water with the kavafied strainer bag or Aluball's and that tastes better, has a better texture when it comes to drinking it and seems to be just as strong .. I almost felt like the heating method wasted my time and some of my kava but I can't quite go as far as to say that.

It didn't really seem any stronger though sadly.
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I remember the experience to be something like this, except it was very strong. But I don't think I'll be doing it again.
 
Zentri

Zentri

Kava Enthusiast
theGrogfather said:
I remember the experience to be something like this, except it was very strong. But I don't think I'll be doing it again.
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I just don't understand why it didn't seem much stronger to me, drank basically all of it within a few hours and didn't feel more krunked than usual, plus the taste/texture was worse.

I used Honokane Iki, KWK Borongoru and some Dua Na Bilo Waka, probably about equal amounts of each and like I said as far as I remember it was 5 tablespoons total. A great mix but just didn't seem as stronger as I was hoping and like I said it was probably due to me having to use extra water to even strain it lol.
 
Z

Zamboni Boy

Kava Curious
I would say the most important thing Ive learned is holding your nose during and a minute after the intake. I was shocked at how much difference that made. My routine is - mix 5-6 teaspoons with about 330 ml of either a mango smoothie or chocolate milk (i realise its not the healthiest choice) in a blander. Pour about 200 ml in a cup. Drink it with nose closed, chase it with cold water and then gargle (while still holding your nose). I then go to the washroom and still with my nose closed brush my teeeth. I repeat the process for the other 130 ml left, about 10 minutes later. Was having horrible gg reflex because of the taste, but the holding nose+water+toothpaste makes it bearable
 
Kojo Douglas

Kojo Douglas

The Kavasseur
I find most Kava to be delicious, but there are a few that are pungent and make you shake and jump. For the latter, I don't see any way of avoiding that initial jolt.
 
M

Mr G

Kava Curious
Palmetto said:
Split a kava mixture in half. Add 1/4 of a Tums tablet (antacid) to one sample before you boil. Boil the other sample without an antacid and compare the taste. To me, the antacid removes most of the bad taste, but the potency is still there.
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This is a really good idea. Can't get Tums in Europe though. How big are the tablets? Would Rennie or similar work the same?
 
Vladimir Lemon

Vladimir Lemon

Kava Curious
So for the time being, lemons help a lot. Just a little bit of lemon juice really makes it easier.

Long term though, I think most of us eventually find ourselves liking the taste of Kava! It's kinda like coffee or beer, where it's an acquired taste.
 
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