Kava felt alot weaker when i tried using the strianing method.

[Geiourht]

Before what I would do is get one cup with water and dump the kava in then after stirring pour into another cup filtered with a tea strainer.

This would catch the bigger bits but a lot of the particles would still get thru.

SO in an effort to save my fragile stomach from its recent issues I tried using a pair of tights and kneeding like ive seen in the videos.

I did it 3 times as well till the last one was only pale so i gather I got most of the lactones out however I felt the effect was considerably reduced compared to when i only used a tea strainer.

Anything else i can do to get a strong effect whilst saving my stomach? I heard about using fats? maybe lemon ?

Yuck I noticed it smells like dog poop under my fingernails on my hand I was using to strain the kava

 

[blindy107]

It shouldn't be noticeably weaker in my experience. Did you knead long enough? I usually will open the strainer bag and feel the raw root for any oiliness before I stop. As long as it feels like just plain old wet wood chips I've done enough.

That being said I typically just strain with a tea strainer or something similar as well. I just pour it back and forth through the strainer until it doesn't catch any particles.

 

[nabanga]

Have you tried using warm to hot water to knead in? It gets more kavalactones out quicker without damaging them.
Also - are you using enough powder? Everyone has a preferred concentration, but IMO you should use at least 6 heaped tablespoons (I use 8) to 1.2 litres - as a minimum - for a reasonable mix. Sorry I can never remember the cups/ounces conversion.
As Blindy says - knead hard until all feeling of oiliness has gone for 10 minutes or so. I then filter back through the stocking 2-3 times (rinsing it out each time) as I find a tea strainer to only take out larger particles. This finer filtering should save your stomach.
Doing it this way I get a definite hit from my first shell. Let us know how you get on..

 

[Jalak]

Are you making 3 batches with the same kava? Each batch after the first will be weaker most likely, so if you're combining them but still drinking a shell, you might be drinking a weaker batch per ounce.

 

[avahZ]

Are you making 3 batches with the same kava? Each batch after the first will be weaker most likely, so if you're combining them but still drinking a shell, you might be drinking a weaker batch per ounce.

I know that's what I do, it seems that the grog hits a saturation point. I really really hate the idea of throwing away good kava, even if it does get weaker each time. I freeze it in between each use (upto three), I figure the cell walls break down more as the ice crystals form giving that lil extra boost in the next batches.