Do you think a centrifuge would alter your results instead of waiting a few days for it to settle?Left: Starwest. Middle: Kava Kaua’i. Right: Dua Na Bilo Vanuatu
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Acetone test can’t show aerial adulteration to the naked eye, unless it was full of green leaves. A spectrometer would be required to determine what’s actually going on, but I tested it anyway to see if it resembled the Starwest Botanicals powder result, since they smell, taste and feel the same and have a similar color when prepared. The dry powders don’t look similar.
It's probably not gonna kill, but there is definitely something "off" about it and like I said I encountered this particular "off-ness" several time in the past and it always turned out to be aerial adulteration...not sure what parts or to what degree. In one example the person who tested it for said, the aerial spike in the spectrometer reading seemed relatively small...to the point where it's surprising that the scent would be so obvious to me.I use this kava as a regular weeknight drinker, due to the price and it being strong enough but not too strong.
I am not in touch with the kava science behind testing
Can or have anyone tested this for aerials? I would rather pay the extra few dollars to upgrade my weeknight staple than worry about not getting 100% root.
I almost seem to like the Vanuatu better than their Fijian. But if these rumors turn out to be true I am liable to steer clear of this company all together going forward.
I could see from your experience, that you could just assume it's a different kava with a different scent, no different than any other variances in other kavas out there. But I been paying attention to this for many years, and this scent in particular threw a red flag out in my mind from the first time I every came across it. My brain doesn't even recognize it as kava, where as I could smell four different bags of 'proper' kava, each with they're own unqiue scent and yet my brain immediately recognizes them as kava, despite their individually uniquenesses. Like I said, so far, every time I've recieved a kava like this and had it tested...the spectrometer showed aerial adulteration. I'm not saying that it's necessarily going to harm you...but we do know that there is at least one chemical in aerial parts that we should be avoiding...and that the beverage isn't really kava if it's not purely roots. Beyond the possibility of aerial adulteration, the main problem I have when I receive powder like this is the disappointment I have when I paid for something I was hoping to enjoy, but instead it's incredibly weak and smells and tastes weird.I have drunk pound after pound of this and have many more pound in the pantry. I drink it for the flavor, which I enjoy and for its pleasant lightness, making it perfect for breakfast or at work. Don't think I have ever had it at night, not sure that would fit. Yes it is dark, tastes sweet/raisiny, and it isn't very strong. These are all things I love about it. My wife loves it twice as much as me. She is the only other person I know who likes it. Sure others drink it but we love it. De gustibus non est disputandem. There is no wrong here, if you don't like it, you don't like it.
I have never experienced any problems from it, and each of us has consumed 5 to 10 pounds of it in the past year.
It is not like any other Vanuatu root I ever had, in any way. I do not recommend it to people since no one seems to enjoy it much. It is different. Closest I know would be the RoH Samoan. Dark, sweet, light.
Was your bag opened? How does the return processes work for it...I've never returned anything to amazon...but this powder was such trash, I was considering returning it too.It's literally the only kava I've ever returned. Just returned it a few weeks ago. Absolute trash.
The one really dark kava that I remember getting had the same taste of "raisins & dried tobacco" flavor although my first take at it made me think of an almost root beer flavor. Definitely smelled different as well. While I did not have bad effects from it, the kava effects were very mild. I barely made 3-4 batches out of it before giving up on it.I finally bought some Dua Na Bilo Vanuatu kava, despite the largely mixed/negative reviews. The claims of it being Tanna Kava and the price were enough motivation for me to give it a try.
I don’t want to make any ‘fact’ claims without real empirical evidence but the first thing I noticed upon smelling the powder, is that it has a specific aroma that I’ve noticed in a few kavas I’ve purchased before. Every other time I've had a kava with this particular scent, I got it tested and the results came back positive for having aerials mixed in. I tend to describe this scent as raisins & dried tobacco (but that might just be the association my mind makes) and the scent has always been correlated with bad product, in my experience.
The next thing I noticed, was that it brews up into a very dark color compared to most kavas...again, this matches my previous experience with kavas that smelled this way.
Finally, the effect was very mild, which also aligns with all my past experiences of kavas that had this smell and color and turned out to be mixed with aerials.
So, I’m not saying this kava is definitely mixed with aerials, but, it checks all the boxes that I can reference from my own anecdotal experience.
Well, I should clarify. I bought 2 bags because it was so cheap. I tried one of the bags, found it was garbage, and decided to return the unopened bag. I've returned other opened stuff to Amazon without problem, so I assume this is the same situation. It's literally hitting the "refund" button on Amazon, printing out a label, and dropping the package off at a mailing place nearby. Super easy and they allow for refunds up to a month or so after receiving the package.It's probably not gonna kill, but there is definitely something "off" about it and like I said I encountered this particular "off-ness" several time in the past and it always turned out to be aerial adulteration...not sure what parts or to what degree. In one example the person who tested it for said, the aerial spike in the spectrometer reading seemed relatively small...to the point where it's surprising that the scent would be so obvious to me.
We aren't really quite clear on what the producers are doing that creates this certain scent/flavor...but it does appear to have something to do aerials. But there could be additional issues like, the powder got damp at some point and started molding and then got re-dried...maybe that could change the scent/flavor.
I could see from your experience, that you could just assume it's a different kava with a different scent, no different than any other variances in other kavas out there. But I been paying attention to this for many years, and this scent in particular threw a red flag out in my mind from the first time I every came across it. My brain doesn't even recognize it as kava, where as I could smell four different bags of 'proper' kava, each with they're own unqiue scent and yet my brain immediately recognizes them as kava, despite their individually uniquenesses. Like I said, so far, every time I've recieved a kava like this and had it tested...the spectrometer showed aerial adulteration. I'm not saying that it's necessarily going to harm you...but we do know that there is at least one chemical in aerial parts that we should be avoiding...and that the beverage isn't really kava if it's not purely roots. Beyond the possibility of aerial adulteration, the main problem I have when I receive powder like this is the disappointment I have when I paid for something I was hoping to enjoy, but instead it's incredibly weak and smells and tastes weird.
Was your bag opened? How does the return processes work for it...I've never returned anything to amazon...but this powder was such trash, I was considering returning it too.
@Krunʞy I've seen the recent talk about centrifuge affecting the acetone test color...I'm not really looking to dump money into one. I just like doing these quick cheap acetone tests out of curiosity..and typically drink the kavas i get, no matter what the result is.
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One hypothesis I have right now, regarding these particular kavas is that the producers might be processing the kasa and the lewena together after removing the waka. Typically when you harvest a kava plant, they still have 6" - 18" of stems (kasa) sticking out of the top, which normally gets removed later during processing. To have more bulk to sell, I could see some of these guys just grinding it all up to make more money.
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lolSure others drink it but we love it. [...] I do not recommend it to people since no one seems to enjoy it much.
Funny you mention 'Root Beer'...One of my other hypotheses about what this type of kava might be is that it's actually Piper Auritum instead of Piper Methisticum. Piper Auritum ("False Kava") is also sometimes called "Root Beer Plant". I've tried to find a chemical analysis of P. Auritum roots specifically -- I couldn't find anything mentioning the roots but I did find this info:The one really dark kava that I remember getting had the same taste of "raisins & dried tobacco" flavor although my first take at it made me think of an almost root beer flavor. Definitely smelled different as well. While I did not have bad effects from it, the kava effects were very mild. I barely made 3-4 batches out of it before giving up on it.