Kava Preparation Extra straining? Am I losing the good stuff?

[bonz]

i use two pairs of nylon stockings to prepare my kava.
Tonight I noticed some fibers floating so I decided to pour what I had through a single nylon hose. I tend to get nauseous so trying what I can to minimize that.

After pouring through the single nylon, it left a sizable amount of material. Almost like very soft mud or clay.

My question is, am I tossing out a lot of the good stuff? Or, am I tossing out mainly the fibrous stuff I don't want? I know I'm losing some kavalactones with the sludge, but is it significant?
Hope this makes sense.

 

[Kimmer]

Yep--if you have nausea, keeping that sludge out of the mix will help. I assume you're losing some kavalactones (I drink the sludge) but it's more important to keep the nausea at bay. You may want to keep it and knead it in with your next batch? Someone else with more experience can weigh in on that.

 

[Edward]

@bonz it's a fine balance between too much and none at all and you'll have to experiment with what's best for you. I used to just use a single nylon and drink whatever was there but I would get more dermo and nausea. These days I strain through a single nylon but then through one of the strainers I got from Cactus Kava which I think is about 80 microns? It gets more of the silt out. I do notice that I get slightly less effects but I just use more root. It has the benefit of avoiding the dermo and most nausea but it costs me more in root. A fine balance.

 

[Groggy]

I agree with both posts above, @Kavafied has a 50 & 75 micron Tongan style strainer, I use the 75, I have been using it for a few months, I find I get the best results with it, I get a bit of very fine sludge at the bottom, which I also drink. I think there needs to be a balance in amount of root to type of strainer used. If I use 1/2 cup of root, I too get dermo quicker. I have since dialed back to 1/4 cup to 1/3 of a cup max to balance it out.