Kava booze

[Buddhacide]

Putting aside any puritanical biases against alcohol for a moment, and ignoring any potential health concerns, might one create, perhaps, some sort of "kava gin" or kava vodka" ? I have a friend whose stepfather makes all sorts of home made booze. He has this amazing vodka he makes by steeping very hot peppers in it. Its amazing. It has me thinking, would it be possible to extract lactones into some sort of every-day alcohol (Ie not isopropyl) for some sort of booze-kava drink?

I know many of you are gasping in horror right now, but I'd be interested to learning whether its possible. Would fat soluble lactones extract into normal vodka or gin? Would maybe using a "creme" like Khalua make any difference. Love to hear peoples thoughts.

 

[Deleted User01]

Buddacide, I homebrew beer and I have been doing it for several years. The concept is the same for vodka. Here is a primer. You soak grains/potatoes/barley/corn in hot water and it extracts the sugars. The liquid with sugar is called Wort. You drain and strain the liquid into a fermenter. You dump yeast (there are hundreds of types for different recipes) into the Wort. The yeast eats the sugar and outputs alcohol. The fermenting process can take 1 to 5 weeks. You can dump add on ingredients during fermentation or even afterwards.

First problem. You have to BOIL THE WORT.

Second Problem. How do you extract the Kavalactones into your Wort? Maybe dump your Kava Tea into the Wort (after boiling). Just like we dump Cocoa Nibs into the Stout to get a chocolate stout.

Google Homebrew with Kava or something similar and you will find some hits. I think it is a bad idea because you may be creating a nasty tasting brew. But some Hops are very strong as well so maybe you use Kava to give your Brew Bitterness. There are tons of primers on how to Brew. John Palmer has an excellent one that will show you all the basics. Bad idea or not, it could be a fun project. I don't know about Canada, but it is illegal to make Vodka/Whisky/moonhshie in the U.S. But that never stopped anyone ...

 

[Buddhacide]

That all sounds cool, really cool actually. It funny because I was at a garage sale a few weeks ago and this dude was selling a bizarre looking container he told me was for fermenting wine. I would love to try making home brew one day. I did some wine through one of those "do it yourself" places a few months ago, put all you do is add the yeast and come back in 6 weeks to bottle it. It would be cool to do ity from scratch. At any rate, I didnt have anything so complex in mind. I was just wondering if maybe soaking some root in a store bought vodka or gin and then straining would do anything. I believe lactones do extract into very high proof alcohol, just not sure about your standard 80 proof.

 

[The Kap'n]

This would work, seeing as this is what store bought kava tinctures are essentially. Kavalactones readily extract into solvents, but then again so do the undesirables. I personally wouldn't do it, but it would work,

 

[Buddhacide]

Hmmm, may need to explore. Thanks.

 

[KavaKrunked]

Well, if you are thinking of distilling a liquor from fermented kava, I have serious doubts that any kavalactones would actually transfer as steam from the fermented brew into the final product.

Something like a "kava wine" or a "kava beer" could be feasible due to the absence of distillation in the process.

Another idea could be to buy some high-proof vodka and simply soak root powder in it for a couple of weeks, strain, and then use the kavodka (kava vodka) in some sort of mixed drink that masks the kava flavor.

Either way, kapm is right on when he cautions about "undesirables" (flavokavain B) potentially poisoning the result.

 

[Deleted User01]

As a homebrewer, I would hate to drink any beer made with Kava powder. I like to sip and savor a nice cold brew, not hold my nose and gulp it down. If you used some of that extract that Andrew uses for making Slushies then that might be a different story. But Buddhacide, you know good and well that you are committing KavaCide. (I ain't judging, I'm just saying.....)

 

[Buddhacide]

Lol, I'm not 100% committed to even trying it,,but it can't be any worse than tossing and washing ( then again you arent getting any of the glutathione ) I'm also not expecting it to taste good. But I'm curious. I think a shot of vodka with a nice kava overtone would be cool. I just don't know if enough lactones would extract to make it in there to be worth it. I'd hate to waste the kava.

Again get the pitchforks ready but I enjoy alcohol and kava together, in moderation. Some gin and grapefruit juice complements a nice krunk swimmingly IMO.

Yeah the beer idea would be gross though, lol.

 

[The Kap'n]

My god. Do you talk real sweet to your liver before that combo?....you know....just in case?

 

[Buddhacide]

Lol. I think it's not unreasonable in moderation. A tablespoon or two of kava. And a double gin and grapefruit. Good times for me. Maybe there are some technical considerations but Im not talking about getting shit faced, just light use.

Plus i like to challenge the notion that things like this are unilaterally bad or good. I don't see pounding back 8 shells of kava as any safer than 2 + a beer or two. I don't think we really know how kavas in-vitro effects translate into a realworld risk of harm. A lot of it is pretty speculative really.

Plus I feel my body tells me when I've done something I shouldnt have - like eating too much tudei or drinking a 26er. I feel fine after a little kava and a little booze. So, not claiming to know one way or the other but I don't think things like this should become taboo either.

 

[Deleted User01]

Buddahcide, people who live in glass houses don't throw rocks so that's why I'm not coming down on you. There are times on the weekend when I might sip some Kava early in the day to relax. But all that dehydration drives me to my Kegs where some cold homebrew hits the spot. That being said, I try not to overdo one or the other on those days. And I usually don't drink on my Kava days and vice versa on the weekdays. As I stated in the other thread, some of us have better livers that others and I may be one of those. I have been drinking for 40 years on a daily basis (until now) and my liver function is good (so far). Cholesterol is another story all together for me. I guess we go back to the old saying, "Moderation in Everything".