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Instant VS Root powder. Better Value?

Ecto

Train by day, Kava by night....All day
Bula everyone. I'm about to make another purchase and I'm curious about BKH Instant Green. I've never enjoyed the soaking/kneeding process of traditional kava but it seems like you get more bang for your buck with the dry root. I normally buy 1 kilo from BKH at around $60. I'm thinking of buying either the smaller can of instant and a 1lb bag of root, the larger can of instant on it's own, or just continue my 1 kilo routine.

Kava is one of the only "luxury" items I can currently afford so any input would be greatly appreciated.
 

Dan

Kava Enthusiast
I love BKH's instant for traveling, and it's amazing for what it can do in a pinch.

But dry root is way more cost effective. Instant is expensive - it'd take me, I dunno, like ten times as long to go through the equivalent amount of root.

Also, instant's effects are just not nearly as well-rounded. I stupidly once drank waaaay too much instant (like four or five times the amount I'll usually make) but, even though I was staggering around and unable to see straight, it was still missing that crucial, satisfying body/mind equilibrium of root brew.
 

infraredz

BULA!
Here is a good comparison that an old member did a while back just for some numbers to chew on:

"I need about 4-5 tsp worth of BKH green to get crunked, that would be 12-15 grams. So, a 100 g tin would be 6 2/3 to 8 1/3 session, call it 6-8 sessions per tin for me, but of course YMMV. Interestingly enough, N@H Shaman instant is also about 3 g per teaspoon, but of course tastes totally different, more like N@H Stone vs. BKH Green tastes different from anything else that I have tried so far. I haven't dosed out Shaman yet to figure out how much I need, I tried it early on when I got my Stone, but haven't tried it since. For comparison with powdered root, for me at least I think about 70 g of powdered root is going to be the sweet spot for me, although I'm going to try 60 g and if that is still good 50 g and so on. In other words out of a pound of kava, which is about 445 g I get about 6 1/2 sessions, so I get more sessions out of a 100 g tin of BKH green than a pound of powdered root."
 

Dan

Kava Enthusiast
Huh. That's completely different from my experience. For me 1 tablespoon of instant barely equals the effects of a brew made from 2 tablespoons of root. Maybe it's 'cause I blend the hell out of my root before straining.
 

infraredz

BULA!
Also, I guess he hadn't weighed it out but Boroguru is about 7-7.5g per tablespoon.

So working off these calculations, if it takes 9 tablespoons of Boroguru (~65g) to get a good effect and 5 teaspoons of BKH instant (15g) that means that a 100g tin will last me ~7 sessions and a kilo of Boroguru will last me ~15 sessions.

That means that 100g of instant is $38.00 ($5.50 a session) and a kilo of Boroguru is $57.00 ($3.80 a session).
 

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
I find that analysis to be pretty much spot on. I am eagerly awaiting the day somebody puts a really cost effective instant/extract on the market.
 

Ecto

Train by day, Kava by night....All day
Wow, thank you guys for such a precise analysis. I guess I'll stick with the root powder for now. Thanks again!
 

Bert07

Me like da kava
Yep, just like everyone said, instant doesn't stand a chance to root cost wise. I don't know if I'm the only one but I find also that the instant (talking particularly about BKH's Green) is much harder to put down than root brew. The taste somehow is completely unappealing to me way more than brew which I find strange. So other than convenience, I'd pick root powder hands down for better taste, effects, and cost efficiency altogether.
 

Dan

Kava Enthusiast
Bert07 - You're not the only one with trouble putting it down. Admittedly, I actually was fine with it until I overdid it that one time, and wound up doubled over the toilet. Such fun. It hasn't tasted the same since.
 

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
I wouldnt say the instant tastes good but I like the texture a lot more than powdered root kava. Now kava candy and paradise extract...that stuff tastes great.
 

Bert07

Me like da kava
There's something about it I can't stand. In fact, it's probably the worst kava that gives me the most nausea as well. Some root sessions in the past I would cap off with a glass of instant and then all of sudden everything would go downhill.
 

Bert07

Me like da kava
It's the opposite for me. I think the other reason I don't like the instant besides the taste is due to its texture and consistency. Root grog is nice and smooth making it easy to put down; instant is just gritty and doesn't help the matter one bit.
 

kavalover

Outsider
The only thing I do with instants is mix them into a shell of traditional root prep, to double to potency. Mmmm. I had many good experiences with BKH green this way.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but instants tend to have a sort of "plastic" taste to me, it just doesn't feel right compared to root brew.
 

yepimonfire

Kava Enthusiast
Idk about anyone else but I found instant kava to not hold a candle to real kava. I drank an entire large container of BKH green just to get rid of an anxiety attack. I wasn't totally wasted off it either. It was disappointing. I guess if I were in a situation where I couldn't stop to make kava it'd be better than nothing but I wasn't impressed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Bert07

Me like da kava
The effects are different I'd say but still pleasurable. If you have enough tbsp of Green you can totally get caught off guard and get swooped off your feet, for some people at least like myself. The taste and consistency is what does it for me though, I can't stand it for some reason. For all who've been around the block with instants--would you pick Green to be the strongest out there? Is N@H's Fire Island comparable to this and are there any others worth giving a shot at?
 

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
Bert, I haven't tried Fire Island but I tried Shaman which was supposedly stronger than BKH instant and couldn't really tell a difference.
 
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