Prolonging heady effects

[Mo'iety]

Does anyone have any tips for prolonging the heady effects that you get at the beginning of a session without getting "bogged down" in heaviness toward the end?

For me, the best part of kava is the heady everything-is-great-with-the-world euphoria that comes right after drinking a shell and never fails to put a huge smile on my face. Problem is it only lasts 30 min or so. My go-to kava is Mo'i and I usually drink two shells in my average session, each from two tbsp worth of medium grind. (Total ~4tbsp). Any more, and the heavy kavalactones start to dominate the experience more than I prefer, even with heady varieties like Mo'i. I'd love to be able to extend my session without much of the lethargic sedation on the back end. But maybe that's just the nature of kava and I should stick with smaller sessions?

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[AlohaAimee]

I'm curious too. I would say about an hour is the max amount of time I've experienced that true heady euphoria. I drink kava for that feeling, as I don't really have anxiety or issues sleeping so I don't need its calming or relaxing effects. I do find that the more empty my stomach is, the longer the euphoria will last. But there's a fine line there because I tend to then get quite ravenous.

 

[Zaphod]

Does anyone have any tips for prolonging the heady effects that you get at the beginning of a session without getting "bogged down" in heaviness toward the end?

For me, the best part of kava is the heady everything-is-great-with-the-world euphoria that comes right after drinking a shell and never fails to put a huge smile on my face. Problem is it only lasts 30 min or so. My go-to kava is Mo'i and I usually drink two shells in my average session, each from two tbsp worth of medium grind. (Total ~4tbsp). Any more, and the heavy kavalactones start to dominate the experience more than I prefer, even with heady varieties like Mo'i. I'd love to be able to extend my session without much of the lethargic sedation on the back end. But maybe that's just the nature of kava and I should stick with smaller sessions?

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You search for the Holy Tanoa of headiness. Best I found at doing this was the fresh frozen kava I got several months back - it had nearly no real heaviness. The more I drank the more waves of euphoria crashed over me. At the same time it didn't keep me awake like some heady kavas can. Otherwise the only other suggestion I have to kick up the headiness a notch is eating some spicy food. I think the kava headiness, plus the endorphins released by eating hot food combined to a real head ringer.

 

[Mo'iety]

Wow, that fresh frozen kava sounds perfect! Where did you come across that, traveling to the islands?

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[Groggy]

Wow, that fresh frozen kava sounds perfect! Where did you come across that, traveling to the islands?

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https://puuohoku.com/

I think you have to call them, their site isn't showing products yet..

 

[Zaphod]

Wow, that fresh frozen kava sounds perfect! Where did you come across that, traveling to the islands?

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Roots of Happiness was selling fresh frozen kava. Based on all of the folks that ordered it was hit or miss if it would show up still frozen or not. Not sure if they still offer it, but I would think twice before ordering it during the summer months. Mine was defrosted but still cold. 1lb made about 1 gallon of reasonably strong kava.

 

[Mo'iety]

Ok, so anecdotally I may have found a solution. When I posted this thread I had been using the strainer that ships with Cactus Kava when prepping Mo'i. Mo'i had always been almost entirely heady for me and it had started feeling more balanced-leaning. I thought it was just the batch was different, or my body was responding differently.

But then I switched back to the finer nut milk bag I had used in the past (75 micron I think) and the heady-dominated effects were back. So my hypothesis is that maybe the more grit in the grog, the heavier the effects may be (along with increased stomach issues if you're prone to that). Perhaps DHK and DHM don't knead out as readily as kavain, but your body will still absorb them from fine kava sediment.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

Ok, so anecdotally I may have found a solution. When I posted this thread I had been using the strainer that ships with Cactus Kava when prepping Mo'i. Mo'i had always been almost entirely heady for me and it had started feeling more balanced-leaning. I thought it was just the batch was different, or my body was responding differently.

But then I switched back to the finer nut milk bag I had used in the past (75 micron I think) and the heady-dominated effects were back. So my hypothesis is that maybe the more grit in the grog, the heavier the effects may be (along with increased stomach issues if you're prone to that). Perhaps DHK and DHM don't knead out as readily as kavain, but your body will still absorb them from fine kava sediment.

You would probably enjoy the NZ Kava Society Palarasul. There is very little heaviness at all with it.