I rarely drink 100% of one type of kava. Usually it's a blend of some sort. This is mainly for economy; fantastic as PK and BKH are, it's quite expensive to ship them overseas so I blend with a cheaper kava and try to find the perfect balance between economy without totally diluting the effects.
Recently, I've been using JPT's "Lost Island" kava:
http://www.justpacifictrading.com/Lost-Island-Kava.php
....blended with a smaller amount of BKH Boroguru.
This seems to be turning into a fairly successful attempt.
The one time I went for a 100% LIK brew, I messed it up, had a minor explosion, and didn't extract for as long as I wanted. Even so, it was a potent kava, though not very nice tasting really.
Yesterday, I ran with 1.5 litres of water* to 10 tbsp of kava, in a blend of 7:3 LIK:Boroguru.
The result is a kava which takes at least half an hour, and more like an hour, to hit you. I had two shells. This is probably about 400ml. I was getting "pressure between the ears" which to me is a sure sign of a euphoric kava in restrained dosage. Not a huge muscle relaxing impact, although last night I slept very long and deeply. I got some nausea from this kava, however, after dinner and with 3 hours now passed since the initial dose this has passed.
I suspect that this could be a great blend both for several hours of euphoria and light-headedness, followed by a good sleep. I'm quite impressed, and surprised that it worked out so well. I could have drunk more to confirm this, but didn't want to push through the nausea; that's a stop sign from my body and I tend to heed it.
For anyone outside NZ, LIK is an expensive deal. I am not totally convinced it's worth the sum you'd have to pay (I think almost USD90 for 1 kilo including postage). For me in NZ, it's turning out to be a good kava which costs me an OK price and turns up in my mailbox in a few days.
I am now intrigued to see how well it blends with various other kavas.
What interesting and synergistic blends have you tried before, or use regularly?
* Starting amount. I must lose about 2-300ml during the kneading.
Recently, I've been using JPT's "Lost Island" kava:
http://www.justpacifictrading.com/Lost-Island-Kava.php
....blended with a smaller amount of BKH Boroguru.
This seems to be turning into a fairly successful attempt.
The one time I went for a 100% LIK brew, I messed it up, had a minor explosion, and didn't extract for as long as I wanted. Even so, it was a potent kava, though not very nice tasting really.
Yesterday, I ran with 1.5 litres of water* to 10 tbsp of kava, in a blend of 7:3 LIK:Boroguru.
The result is a kava which takes at least half an hour, and more like an hour, to hit you. I had two shells. This is probably about 400ml. I was getting "pressure between the ears" which to me is a sure sign of a euphoric kava in restrained dosage. Not a huge muscle relaxing impact, although last night I slept very long and deeply. I got some nausea from this kava, however, after dinner and with 3 hours now passed since the initial dose this has passed.
I suspect that this could be a great blend both for several hours of euphoria and light-headedness, followed by a good sleep. I'm quite impressed, and surprised that it worked out so well. I could have drunk more to confirm this, but didn't want to push through the nausea; that's a stop sign from my body and I tend to heed it.
For anyone outside NZ, LIK is an expensive deal. I am not totally convinced it's worth the sum you'd have to pay (I think almost USD90 for 1 kilo including postage). For me in NZ, it's turning out to be a good kava which costs me an OK price and turns up in my mailbox in a few days.
I am now intrigued to see how well it blends with various other kavas.
What interesting and synergistic blends have you tried before, or use regularly?
* Starting amount. I must lose about 2-300ml during the kneading.
Aloha.
