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Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Hello to everyone, you have a very nice forum, but i got a little bit lost trying to decide where to post this :p. Since i am a newbie, i post it here. I live in a country of the European Union and in my search for Kava i was directed to Us-based stores. Of course i am not eager to pay custom fees and the idea of a shop that sends from the European Union seems very interesting. I was able to find that shop: http://shop.buzzherb.eu/kava_shop which is based in Austria. I also found that one from the UK:http://www.ayahuascashop.co.uk/default2.aspx. I am wondering if anyone here has ordered from any of those shops. Prices vary vastly from one to the other, at least double the price. Thank you everyone.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Vaggos Xi said:
Hello to everyone, you have a very nice forum, but i got a little bit lost trying to decide where to post this :p. Since i am a newbie, i post it here. I live in a country of the European Union and in my search for Kava i was directed to Us-based stores. Of course i am not eager to pay custom fees and the idea of a shop that sends from the European Union seems very interesting. I was able to find that shop: http://shop.buzzherb.eu/kava_shop which is based in Austria. I also found that one from the UK:http://www.ayahuascashop.co.uk/default2.aspx. I am wondering if anyone here has ordered from any of those shops. Prices vary vastly from one to the other, at least double the price. Thank you everyone.
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wow, 100 Euros for a pound of kava. Ouch. Also, the pic of the Fiji waka looks a lot like lawena. I would be sceptical of a place called "Buzz Herbs" but then again I am old and a fuddy duddy. I guess, faute de mieux, I would try their Vanuatu grind, just one, to see if it's any good. Still, when I make a batch I use 100g, and that only lasts me three days.....
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Ha ha yeah, insane pricing, i guess they are taking advantage of the fact that not many places sell it in Europe.With a little bit of searching i saw that lawena is not nescesarily a bad thing?Well, i ordered from Buzz Herbs 1x50g Hawaian and 1x50g Fiji, gonna see how it goes. What do you mean, 100g lasts you only 3 days?! Wtf, if this is the case we are talking about lots of money to be spent, since i was thinking on using it 5 days on, 2 days off.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Vaggos Xi said:
Ha ha yeah, insane pricing, i guess they are taking advantage of the fact that not many places sell it in Europe.With a little bit of searching i saw that lawena is not nescesarily a bad thing?Well, i ordered from Buzz Herbs 1x50g Hawaian and 1x50g Fiji, gonna see how it goes. What do you mean, 100g lasts you only 3 days?! Wtf, if this is the case we are talking about lots of money to be spent, since i was thinking on using it 5 days on, 2 days off.
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I drink absurdly large amounts of kava, so you probbaly shouldn't go by my standards. My son happily restricts himself to 13g a day, so just one of those packets would be a four day supply for him. It all depends on what you want or need it for.

You'll probably be fine. I'll be very curious about what grind the Hawaiian is and how good it is.

Oh, lawena is a wonderful thing, vastly underrated, if anything. I was merely remarking that the photo looks more like lawena than waka. But it could be waka. Fijian waka tends to be dark, while the lawena tends to be lighter. But there can be considerable variation.
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Fuck, i searched the forum through google but did not find anything before i made the order! Luckily, i only bought 25 euros worth of Kava, it's a loss i can handle. I hope other, more expensive stuff i bought from them will be ok.I will report back on you guys about the quality. Could do an acetone test to confirm what has already been reported.So i guess for regular use, i am left with US-suppliers. Krunkie thank you for the info and you kavame for letting me know about them.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Vaggos Xi said:
Fuck, i searched the forum through google but did not find anything before i made the order! Luckily, i only bought 25 euros worth of Kava, it's a loss i can handle. I hope other, more expensive stuff i bought from them will be ok.I will report back on you guys about the quality. Could do an acetone test to confirm what has already been reported.So i guess for regular use, i am left with US-suppliers. Krunkie thank you for the info and you kavame for letting me know about them.
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It's still possible the stuff is ok just that it's sort of generic quality or a little old. Do you know anyone who is very familiar with kava who could look at it or smell it for you?

You could always post a photo here and describe what it smells like and we could give you our best educated guess.

I wouldn't give up hope on your 25 euros just yet.
 
Groggy

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
Vaggos Xi said:
Fuck, i searched the forum through google but did not find anything before i made the order! Luckily, i only bought 25 euros worth of Kava, it's a loss i can handle. I hope other, more expensive stuff i bought from them will be ok.I will report back on you guys about the quality. Could do an acetone test to confirm what has already been reported.So i guess for regular use, i am left with US-suppliers. Krunkie thank you for the info and you kavame for letting me know about them.
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Take a look at this thread and maybe @Edward can give you some pointers.
http://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/vendors-who-ship-to-the-uk.5794/
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
I checked the thread from Edward, very interesting and could be useful for other products as well. I am waiting for my order to come, logically it will be here someday during this week. Will do full report for smell etc, will try for acetone (i guess isopropyl alcohol could be used too...?). I checked other trusted websites from you guys and i like a lot what i am seeing, considering products.
 
yiki

yiki

Kava Enthusiast
if you go through a remailer and get cheap kava, a kilo or two pounds will cost you around 150$ and lasts around a montth if you consume daily with moderate amounts.
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Wow 150$ monthly, that's an expensive habit!Still beats regular drinking or daily tobacco smoking by far. I don't intend on consuming it daily, perhaps 4 times per week at best. I consume many other herbs too :p
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Kava arrived today from the european website. 28 euros for 100 grams. I got Fiji Waka and Hawaii. Fiji has a more powdery texture, does not have a very strong odor, something like a faint woody smell? It's whitish tan in color.Hawaii has a more "woody" texture, and this also has very faint odor.Both strains whitish colors. Now to see how to prepare them.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Vaggos Xi said:
Kava arrived today from the european website. 28 euros for 100 grams. I got Fiji Waka and Hawaii. Fiji has a more powdery texture, does not have a very strong odor, something like a faint woody smell? It's whitish tan in color.Hawaii has a more "woody" texture, and this also has very faint odor.Both strains whitish colors. Now to see how to prepare them.
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sounds like they are ok. If you don't have an Aluball, then your options are basically a straner bag or a blender plus strainer.
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
I don't have an Aluball, i strained hawaian with an old t-shirt. I put 25 grams in 300 ml of warm (~60C)water. I drank it all at once. It's about 20 minutes since i tested it, for now just a sense of calmness.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Calmness is a good sign, esp. compared to, say, ralphing your lunch up.

fwiw 25g in 300ml would be a krunk dose for me and it would take 20 - 30 mins to hit.

Did you knead it for 10 minutes?

My advice is wait another 20 or 30 minutes then add another 6g to the wet stuff in the shirt and knead it again for 10 minutes in 300 ml water. And again 45 - 60 minutes after that, add another 6g to the wet stuff and knead again with 300 ml. That way you will get more out of it and make the sesh last longer. If it's really good you can do that 3 or 4 times, adding just a little bit more gets you a dose as strong as the original one, that is, if you are enjoying it.

Did your tongue or lips get any numbness?
 
V

Vaggos Xi

Newbie
Krunkie McKrunkface said:
Calmness is a good sign, esp. compared to, say, ralphing your lunch up.

fwiw 25g in 300ml would be a krunk dose for me and it would take 20 - 30 mins to hit.

Did you knead it for 10 minutes?

My advice is wait another 20 or 30 minutes then add another 6g to the wet stuff in the shirt and knead it again for 10 minutes in 300 ml water. And again 45 - 60 minutes after that, add another 6g to the wet stuff and knead again with 300 ml. That way you will get more out of it and make the sesh last longer. If it's really good you can do that 3 or 4 times, adding just a little bit more gets you a dose as strong as the original one, that is, if you are enjoying it.

Did your tongue or lips get any numbness?
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I kneaded it for about 10 minutes, yes. It's been 5 hours since i tested it, i felt very relaxed for most of that time, a little bit sleepy too. I like it and if what they say about reverse tolerance is true, i am looking forward to trying it again the next days. I am gonna try your method today. But i lost you somewhere along your description. Every time i add the 6 new grams, i do that with new water too, correct? So in essence, i would have 3-4 dosages. And i guess i could use them not all at the same day, but spread them throughout 2-3 days. Answering to your question, i would say i experienced a very slight numbness in my tongue.
 
Groggy

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
Vaggos Xi said:
I don't have an Aluball, i strained hawaian with an old t-shirt. I put 25 grams in 300 ml of warm (~60C)water. I drank it all at once. It's about 20 minutes since i tested it, for now just a sense of calmness.
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The tee shirt is not doing it justice, try a nylon stocking, doubled over and tied so that you can really knead it.
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Vaggos Xi said:
I kneaded it for about 10 minutes, yes. It's been 5 hours since i tested it, i felt very relaxed for most of that time, a little bit sleepy too. I like it and if what they say about reverse tolerance is true, i am looking forward to trying it again the next days. I am gonna try your method today. But i lost you somewhere along your description. Every time i add the 6 new grams, i do that with new water too, correct? So in essence, i would have 3-4 dosages. And i guess i could use them not all at the same day, but spread them throughout 2-3 days. Answering to your question, i would say i experienced a very slight numbness in my tongue.
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Yes, new water each time.

To really get the value of your kava (especially given how much we pay for it) you can do multiple washes but then, as the potency diminishes with each wash, you either have to use less water each time or add a little new kava each time. The less water (without adding any additional root) approach only really works if you start from a very large quantity so that the amount in your final wash is a non-trivial amount. So to end up with a final wash in 300 ml of water, say in your 4th or 5th wash, you would start with about 125g in 2L of water, then probably 1.5L for the second wash, 1L for the third and 0.5L for the fourth. Or something like that. But if you are starting with smaller quantities of medium grind, then you really need to add small amounts of powder so that you can keep the volume of each wash the same, here 250ml or 300ml, and the potency roughly the same.

It does look like the stuff you got really is kava and the quality seems acceptable, so that is good news, indeed. I know that was a concern.

Glad you enjoyed it. Looks like you aren't overly burdened with the annoyance of RT, which is also fortunate.

Hope your next grog is even better. Cheers.
 
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