Kava Preparation Blender timing and cosmic slop

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I noticed on the package for the KWK Vula it gives directions for prep using a blender and says to run it on high for 4 minutes. I've also seen videos on YouTube that show blender times of up to 10 minutes.

By contrast, I only run my kava in the blender for 20 to 30 seconds total. I do 5 short one seconds blasts to "shock" the particles into rupturing, then a 10 - 20 second sustained blend to really work on the shocked and ruptured particles. Then another series of 5 one second blasts, just to pick up any stragglers that might have avoided the first blasts. I find this very effective for me, and certainly if the object is to get krunk (and I don't worry about "getting it all" in the first wash because what doesn't get got in the first wash remains for the second wash, so so much the better), it works, no doubt about that, so I assume if the krunk effect is delivered, the other desired effects are being delivered as well, and that is certainly what I think I am experiencing in my daily life, kava goodness in all its forms, delivered at a rate of about 284%.

(n.b. all appearances to the contrary, I'm not about the krunk, much as I love it, the krunk is a means to an end, the krunk makes everything else possible for me, putting the rest of my life when I'm not krunk at a higher level of well-being. It's merely a coincidence that the krunk feel so dang goooooood. A happy coincidence, like a funny cosmic joke that is super healthy.... "and get this, in order to get to the good stuff, you gotta be krunk!!!! hahahahahaha, divine providence or what!")

I also let the grog sit in the blender before straining, ideally for 10 minutes, but at least 5 for sure. There seems to be no benefit (or harm) in letting it sit more than 10 minutes but 10 seems better than 5. I do a very gentle stirring with a spoon in the strainer which I think also gets out some more of the kavalactones. I do NOT push anything through the strainer, rather, I use the spoon to lift up, not push down, and it's fun to watch the makas gradually appear, and then get shiny and then get drier as part of the process, that takes 2 or 3 minutes in all, roughly.

So, my question, is there a really good reason to run the blender longer as others suggest? Or is this, as with so much else connected with kava, really just a matter of irrelevant personal taste and preference and what matters is to listen to what kava tells you about how it wants you to experience it? At the risk of sounding weird etc etc I've had great success with listening to kava and what it tells me it thinks I should do and what it thinks is best for me and so far kava has never been wrong, while I, of course, have.

Final related question: is kava a person? Or a spirit? I only ask because I perceive kava as such, it has a personality and many qualities of a person or spirit, it has intelligence, wisdom, kindness, playfulness, seriousness, and unless I am gravely mistaken, love. I feel like kava is my friend, a wise and patient and loving friend. Is that crazy?

 

[Groggy]

I noticed on the package for the KWK Vula it gives directions for prep using a blender and says to run it on high for 4 minutes. I've also seen videos on YouTube that show blender times of up to 10 minutes.

By contrast, I only run my kava in the blender for 20 to 30 seconds total. I do 5 short one seconds blasts to "shock" the particles into rupturing, then a 10 - 20 second sustained blend to really work on the shocked and ruptured particles. Then another series of 5 one second blasts, just to pick up any stragglers that might have avoided the first blasts. I find this very effective for me, and certainly if the object is to get krunk (and I don't worry about "getting it all" in the first wash because what doesn't get got in the first wash remains for the second wash, so so much the better), it works, no doubt about that, so I assume if the krunk effect is delivered, the other desired effects are being delivered as well, and that is certainly what I think I am experiencing in my daily life, kava goodness in all its forms, delivered at a rate of about 284%.

(n.b. all appearances to the contrary, I'm not about the krunk, much as I love it, the krunk is a means to an end, the krunk makes everything else possible for me, putting the rest of my life when I'm not krunk at a higher level of well-being. It's merely a coincidence that the krunk feel so dang goooooood. A happy coincidence, like a funny cosmic joke that is super healthy.... "and get this, in order to get to the good stuff, you gotta be krunk!!!! hahahahahaha, divine providence or what!")

I also let the grog sit in the blender before straining, ideally for 10 minutes, but at least 5 for sure. There seems to be no benefit (or harm) in letting it sit more than 10 minutes but 10 seems better than 5. I do a very gentle stirring with a spoon in the strainer which I think also gets out some more of the kavalactones. I do NOT push anything through the strainer, rather, I use the spoon to lift up, not push down, and it's fun to watch the makas gradually appear, and then get shiny and then get drier as part of the process, that takes 2 or 3 minutes in all, roughly.

So, my question, is there a really good reason to run the blender longer as others suggest? Or is this, as with so much else connected with kava, really just a matter of irrelevant personal taste and preference and what matters is to listen to what kava tells you about how it wants you to experience it? At the risk of sounding weird etc etc I've had great success with listening to kava and what it tells me it thinks I should do and what it thinks is best for me and so far kava has never been wrong, while I, of course, have.

Final related question: is kava a person? Or a spirit? I only ask because I perceive kava as such, it has a personality and many qualities of a person or spirit, it has intelligence, wisdom, kindness, playfulness, seriousness, and unless I am gravely mistaken, love. I feel like kava is my friend, a wise and patient and loving friend. Is that crazy?

I think if you run the kava in the blender for a longer time it may heat up the liquid, whether or not this is bad I have no idea, when i started drinking kava, I would use a similar approach except that I used a a larger metal strainer (maybe 500-700 micron). Eventually dermo caught up to me and I decided to get a smaller micron traditional strainer.

On the subject of kava and it's meaning, culturally & historically, there is quite a bit of information on the kavapedia.

http://kavaforums.com/forum/wiki/index/

 

[Rick.Sanchez]

Blending longer will probably increase potency and reduce GI problems. You can add ice to prevent it from getting too hot.

 

[Noname]

I think few minutes is good. And yea I know how you feel about kava lol it's a great root.. there can be a sense of guilt or shame or feeling bad after eating unhealthy food drugs or other bad habits but kava there isn't this feeling like you are doing something wrong.. Or maybe kava is sweet poison? lol

 

[Noname]

I belive kava is a spirit.. It would be disrespectful to kava to put the used root into the trash it's only right to put it into the dirt

 

[violet]

I belive kava is a spirit.. It would be disrespectful to kava to put the used root into the trash it's only right to put it into the dirt

I always felt wrong disposing of the dregs in the garbage, so they go into the garden. I've also put it around my outer windowsills before to deter ants.

 

[violet]

I also let the grog sit in the blender before straining, ideally for 10 minutes, but at least 5 for sure. There seems to be no benefit (or harm) in letting it sit more than 10 minutes but 10 seems better than 5. I do a very gentle stirring with a spoon in the strainer which I think also gets out some more of the kavalactones. I do NOT push anything through the strainer, rather, I use the spoon to lift up, not push down, and it's fun to watch the makas gradually appear, and then get shiny and then get drier as part of the process, that takes 2 or 3 minutes in all, roughly.

So, my question, is there a really good reason to run the blender longer as others suggest? Or is this, as with so much else connected with kava, really just a matter of irrelevant personal taste and preference and what matters is to listen to what kava tells you about how it wants you to experience it? At the risk of sounding weird etc etc I've had great success with listening to kava and what it tells me it thinks I should do and what it thinks is best for me and so far kava has never been wrong, while I, of course, have.

Run the blender that long if you think it makes the grog more potent. Personally I don't think it's necessary for what extra you may extract, but YMMV. Many have found there isn't a significant difference between blending and solid traditional prep. If your blender is not glass, it will soon take on a day-glo yellow hue of the lactones from all that kava prep.

Final related question: is kava a person? Or a spirit? I only ask because I perceive kava as such, it has a personality and many qualities of a person or spirit, it has intelligence, wisdom, kindness, playfulness, seriousness, and unless I am gravely mistaken, love. I feel like kava is my friend, a wise and patient and loving friend. Is that crazy?

I believe all plants have a spirit... particular personalities and qualities they imbue us with. They have great intelligence and will alter their constituents in response to the energies around them, making them the essential healers that they are. Interacting with them, we are able to feel their inherent qualities. I don't think that's crazy at all.

 

[Edward]

Not so sure about the spiritual stuff, I tend to trust more in what I can see and touch. On the blender thing I normally do 1 to 2 mins. There was a good video on realkava.com showing Gary prepping kava and he does even less... but it's in his interest for you to get less from your kava so who knows ;-) . That's a joke, I think he's a good guy with good intentions.

 

[Rick.Sanchez]

We can't trust what can see and touch. Science has proven that all kinds of crazy stuff happens in the invisible world.

That said, I'm not a spiritual person either. I tend to believe what's been empirically proven.

 

[Chillbert]

Kapm posted these blender instructions in a different forum topic:

http://kavaforums.com/forum/attachments/bittenbender-preparing-kava-pdf.3767/

I found them curious as they vary greatly from my blender prep routine (which is admittedly a long way from refined) and because they purport to get a ton of mileage out of about 7 Tbls of kava. My blender is currently out of commission, so I've yet to try this method, but I am intrigued.

Has anyone else used this blender strategy? If so, any feedback?

 

[mdmace]

I use a vitamix for my prep, but I do it with micronized. I do the syrup thing where it's a concentrated batch. 6 TBL of micro to 2 cups of water. Blend for 3 minutes so it gets hot but not boiling, then strain through a nut milk bag. I add a 1/8 tsp of xantham gum after straining and reblend on low for about 30 seconds. This keeps the "syrup" from separating and seems to hide the final grittiness from the micro. Works great for my kava kocktails.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Kapm posted these blender instructions in a different forum topic:

http://kavaforums.com/forum/attachments/bittenbender-preparing-kava-pdf.3767/

I found them curious as they vary greatly from my blender prep routine (which is admittedly a long way from refined) and because they purport to get a ton of mileage out of about 7 Tbls of kava. My blender is currently out of commission, so I've yet to try this method, but I am intrigued.

Has anyone else used this blender strategy? If so, any feedback?

ftr tomorrow morning I am going to try that strategy out, doing it exactly according to their directions and will report back. What prevented me before now was it makes a large quantity and I was afraid of not being able to drink it before it goes bad. But if I start on Friday morning and make a weekend project it should work out. It'll mean a different approach to drinking shells for me, tho, from what I'm used to.

 

[Chillbert]

Oh, I'm very curious to hear how it works.

As for kava keeping, I am a light kava user (certainly as compared to some on these forums). My strategy is to make a quart of kava, put it into a mason jar, and pop it into the fridge. Some weeks it might be a full seven days later before I polish it off, and never have i encountered any funkiness or loss of potency. Your strategy to drink it all over the weekend has immense charm, though should that plan fail you, keeping it refrigerated will buy you plenty of time.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Oh, I'm very curious to hear how it works.

As for kava keeping, I am a light kava user (certainly as compared to some on these forums). My strategy is to make a quart of kava, put it into a mason jar, and pop it into the fridge. Some weeks it might be a full seven days later before I polish it off, and never have i encountered any funkiness or loss of potency. Your strategy to drink it all over the weekend has immense charm, though should that plan fail you, keeping it refrigerated will buy you plenty of time.

Science! It's for science!

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

OK, so I made the grog yesterday and am ready to report today.

It was a worthwhile exercise. It took about an hour to finish (making it, not drinking it!). That's a lot of root (100g = 1 cup/250ml) and a lot of water (2.65L or 11 cups) and blending. I think one can easily downscale by decreasing portions to 1/2 or, as I will try soon, 1/3, or 1/4, because this makes a lot of grog, 2.5L or 10.5 cups which is too much for just one person but not bad if you are having friends over or going camping or something. It took about an hour but in part that was because it took a long time to wait for such a large quantity of liquid to drain through the strainer bag (it could not be forced) before I could start kneading. I believe that with a much smaller quantity, like doing ony 1/3 or 1/4 the amounts, this whole process should go a lot quicker, thus reducing one of the main arguments against doing this prep.

Basically, the central concept is give your root three washes, to get the max of kavalactones out of them, only instead of doing a wash and drinking that, then doing a second and/or even third, as many of us do, it has you doing three washes one after another and combining the results. The first time round has extra water to it in order to "rehydrate the root" back to an approximation of what the moisture content would be with fresh root, I believe. And each time you are blending on high for a minute and then draining it through a strainer bag and then kneading, so it sort of maxes out on maceration. By the end of it your poor root has had monster blending and monster kneading.

One of the main reasons I say the exercise was worthwhile was because this method was designed not just to extract the absolute maximum quantity of kavalactones out of your root, but also through efficiency, extracting also the maximum variety. What I suspect, and this is just my Squnch (aka a hunch made by a mind expanded by Squanch), is that there are the major kavalactones in our root but then there are also the minor ones, and that our usual prep methods are just fine at letting the major ones shine but often the minor ones get short shrift or never even get to us in the first place, because maybe we aren't extracting them due to our prep methods. This method gets all of those, or at least, all of those that we are ever going to get in anything like a traditional medium grind grog prep. I felt like this was what I was experiencing when I drank the grog, anyway, some new and different spots being hit inside me that were not familiar, even though I was using Wakacon waka, which I have drunk many pounds of. It felt like a much broader experience.

Anyway, because you use hot water, you probably don't want to drink the grog right away, though you could. I chilled it down, but then had to decant some as I don't like things cold out of the fridge. This took time before I got to shell :-( But that's really a minor quibble. The grog itsef was easy to down, either on its own, or in my case, adding some coconut milk. In both cases I got more numbing of my tongue than I usually experience, but not objectionable in any way. It went down easy, no gagging or nausea.

I didn't know what to expect so I took it easy, starting with a 4 oz/ 125ml shell to which I added a couple of ounces of optional coconut milk. It's not a strongly flavoured grog, nor is it thick at all, and has no viscosity. My plan was to have 4 oz worth, then see how I felt, then another after 20 minutes or so and take it from there. Well, the first shell was pleasant enough, enough to make me feel I'd had some kava for sure. And that was on what was about two teaspoons of root, maybe a tad more. This is pretty efficient, from a fiscal standpoint. The second shell I had made me feel mellow. And then later the third made me feel distinctly good. We watched a stupid Tom Cruise sci-fi movie and enjoyed it and then we strictly observed scriptural practice, notably Proverbs 5:19. By the end of the night I had had in total 2 or 2 1/2 cups of this grog, somewhere around 3 - 3.5 TBS worth of root. At no point did I ever get krunk, but I don't like to drink large volumes of grog, that's why the usual prep for me is 3/4 cup liquid regardless of dose, I just add more or less grind, depending, anywhere from 1 - 4 TBS. It was definitely very pleasant and in no way incapacitating, and certainly not from that scriptural practice point of view. Quite the contrary. I suspect some of those minor kavalactones could be involved, and there's a more sort of overall joyfulness (not sure why I think so, just an impression) and just feeling really good to grog prepped this way.

After the second and third kneading I got big white grease bubbles, that was cool. And at the very end, that root was played out and felt like old clay and was more green than I've ever seen a makas, dark green.

I would say this a great way of prepping grog if you are using it for anxiolytic or insomnia purposes. A 4 oz shell once per day or twice per day would be perfect. It's easy to drink, and from a monetary point of view, very practical. Out of a single pound you could get 45 to 90 days worth, depending on if you needed 4 or 8 oz a day. This could potentially be a huge consideration, especially combined with the max kavalactones consideration, so you're getting the full spectrum of kava goodness for your dollar.

Where it is of less interest is to the space cowboy riding the free range of the final frontier. This is not an ideal way to git krunk. I imagine you could if determined, but I don't want to drink that much liquid to do it. OTOH if you are one of those people who wants to drink 10 or more shells in a sesh, then yeah, this would be the best way to go, I think. But still, it's never going to give me the mind-threshing that 4 TBS Squanch in 3/4 liquid will give me. (OTOH I can't wait to try this out with Squanch to see what Squanch has been hiding from me. What else you got in there, Squanch? I will definitely check that out)

And the moral of the story is.... there's a ton of ways to make grog. Find the ways you like and that work for you and enjoy! Bula.

Questions?

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Yeee dogggies! Stop the press. We recommenced shelling and that scriptural thang hit us both again, real hard, just like last night but much faster. Hmmmmmmmm. Neither one of us ever felt anything like this with kava before, and it was both of us.

Need more science....

 

[Chillbert]

Wow. Great scientific write-up! I am still awaiting my replacement blender part, and thanks to your work, the waiting has now grown unbearable! Well done.

It was the hope of driving every kavalactone from the root that intrigued me about the prep. I seem to always wonder if I got it all, and it sounds like this method will remove that thought. That you feel another dimension from familiar Kava only adds to the fun.

I agree the path forward would be to fraction the recipe. With your careful and specific write-up, doing so will be a breeze. I am grateful and will report back once I'm able to try the technique.

In the meantime, Bula to you and the

 

[Chillbert]

....the missus.

 

[chandra]

I've gotta try this. I have a glass blender, and now it looks lonely sitting there. I think it needs some kava to keep it company. This may sound strange, but I've found with kava and other herbal plants that I use for teas and such, that they are more effective if I talk to them. Just a simple asking for them to give me what they wish too, and a thank you. I do believe plants are alive, and therefore have a spirit of their own. I've also had the kava speak to me. I don't drink it all the time anymore, but sometimes it will start calling to me. I'll miss it just like an old friend. When I do drink it, I find that I needed it on a spiritual level.

 

[HeadHodge]

I noticed on the package for the KWK Vula it gives directions for prep using a blender and says to run it on high for 4 minutes. I've also seen videos on YouTube that show blender times of up to 10 minutes.

By contrast, I only run my kava in the blender for 20 to 30 seconds total. I do 5 short one seconds blasts to "shock" the particles into rupturing, then a 10 - 20 second sustained blend to really work on the shocked and ruptured particles. Then another series of 5 one second blasts, just to pick up any stragglers that might have avoided the first blasts. I find this very effective for me, and certainly if the object is to get krunk (and I don't worry about "getting it all" in the first wash because what doesn't get got in the first wash remains for the second wash, so so much the better), it works, no doubt about that, so I assume if the krunk effect is delivered, the other desired effects are being delivered as well, and that is certainly what I think I am experiencing in my daily life, kava goodness in all its forms, delivered at a rate of about 284%.

(n.b. all appearances to the contrary, I'm not about the krunk, much as I love it, the krunk is a means to an end, the krunk makes everything else possible for me, putting the rest of my life when I'm not krunk at a higher level of well-being. It's merely a coincidence that the krunk feel so dang goooooood. A happy coincidence, like a funny cosmic joke that is super healthy.... "and get this, in order to get to the good stuff, you gotta be krunk!!!! hahahahahaha, divine providence or what!")

I also let the grog sit in the blender before straining, ideally for 10 minutes, but at least 5 for sure. There seems to be no benefit (or harm) in letting it sit more than 10 minutes but 10 seems better than 5. I do a very gentle stirring with a spoon in the strainer which I think also gets out some more of the kavalactones. I do NOT push anything through the strainer, rather, I use the spoon to lift up, not push down, and it's fun to watch the makas gradually appear, and then get shiny and then get drier as part of the process, that takes 2 or 3 minutes in all, roughly.

So, my question, is there a really good reason to run the blender longer as others suggest? Or is this, as with so much else connected with kava, really just a matter of irrelevant personal taste and preference and what matters is to listen to what kava tells you about how it wants you to experience it? At the risk of sounding weird etc etc I've had great success with listening to kava and what it tells me it thinks I should do and what it thinks is best for me and so far kava has never been wrong, while I, of course, have.

Final related question: is kava a person? Or a spirit? I only ask because I perceive kava as such, it has a personality and many qualities of a person or spirit, it has intelligence, wisdom, kindness, playfulness, seriousness, and unless I am gravely mistaken, love. I feel like kava is my friend, a wise and patient and loving friend. Is that crazy?

These are the threads where I always whip out the blender agitation study from the kavapedia
http://kavaforums.com/forum/wiki/how-to-optimize-the-extraction-of-kavalactones/