yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
For those of you who can't read the terrible cell phone pic, it says "Kava tested by the university of the South Pacific, found to be Noble kava chemotype (426315)" Guess it's no longer the mystery kava from Amazon.
Looks like wakacon is taking their kava quality pretty seriously now.
- Thread starter yepimonfire
- Start date
For those of you who can't read the terrible cell phone pic, it says "Kava tested by the university of the South Pacific, found to be Noble kava chemotype (426315)" Guess it's no longer the mystery kava from Amazon.
yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
It's never been rubbish, it's always been my favorite kava because the effects are perfectly balanced. Awhile back they came out with a vanuatu kava and one of the members drank it and discovered it was tudei, I don't think they knew much about kava beforehand because I had to send them a bunch of information on it and tudei and they finally agreed to dispose of and stop selling the vanuatu one. Their fijian always passed an acetone test but it looks like they went ahead and had all their kava tested for chemotype and nobility.
Passing an acetone test is one thing, but knowing the chemotype and knowing it's noble is reassuring. I know a lot of members wrote it off because nobody knew anything about it, it was just another mystery amazon kava, most of which were questionable.
It also appears to be pretty high in yangonin. I always really liked it because it was a very heady kava but was also good at kicking anxiety in the nuts, something BKH kavas or GHK kavas seemed more specialized in depending on the cultivar. Wakacon fiji seems to do everything right in the right amount.
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yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
Didn't notice that. According to their website the lawena kava is literally just a weaker version but the exact same chemotype. I know first hand it doesn't taste as strong either, but neither of the two are particularly strong tasting.I just checked the website out and it looks like they have updated that too. You can even sign up for their "Street team"
Kavashua
Mmmm Kava
I enjoy the Lawena but can't stomach the Waka for some reason
verticity
I'm interested in things
I was just kidding, because the bag actually says "rubbish" on it....
yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
What is it you don't like? I can definitely think of worse tasting kavas and this one isn't particularly nausea inducing. The lawena is likely the same cultivar, just the stump instead of lateral roots. It tastes like bland mud and not much else vs the peppery taste of the waka.
Kavashua
Mmmm Kava
I don't like the taste. It may be because I made a real heavy batch of it with a lot of sediment in it and was sick the next day. Stuff like that never leaves your mind
I didnt even notice this. I just posted a thread about the Lawena that I got yesterday searching for lower cost Kavas. It did the trick and I'm happy with it for the price. Gonna mix some Nangol (the last of my 1/2 pound bag) in with it for my grog tonight to get myself good and chill.
Kojo Douglas
The Kavasseur
I have no qualms with Wakacon. I just don't know why they don't have as much of presence on sites like this. We ARE the demographic, after all.
So after my 2nd night with the Lawena from these guys.....Ill throw in its definitely not bad stuff. I have a very very small amount of nangol noble mixed in ... maybe 1/16th the total amount of powder I used for my grog.
Today was an especially stressful workday. I was extremely keyed up when I got home. After 4 cups of a fairly weak (I use too much water) brew Ill absolutely say I am chilled. Not the knocked on my butt feeling I truly want but im waaaay more chilled out. Once again Ill say for the price the stuff really isnt bad. Not at all.
As to their market.....Im guessing we really arent their market judging by the Amazon reviews.....theres a ton of them and none sound like members here so Id guess theres a much wider market than the group that feequents this board.
Still.....youd think itd be worth it for them to establish themselves here.
Today was an especially stressful workday. I was extremely keyed up when I got home. After 4 cups of a fairly weak (I use too much water) brew Ill absolutely say I am chilled. Not the knocked on my butt feeling I truly want but im waaaay more chilled out. Once again Ill say for the price the stuff really isnt bad. Not at all.
As to their market.....Im guessing we really arent their market judging by the Amazon reviews.....theres a ton of them and none sound like members here so Id guess theres a much wider market than the group that feequents this board.
Still.....youd think itd be worth it for them to establish themselves here.
The question is whether every single batch of their kava is tested by the USP's Suva lab. One of the big vendors claims to only sell "noble" kava on the basis of one COA from 2013 that they publish on their website. More recent tests suggested a different story. There used to be a vendor here that claimed to only sell noble with the only proof being him writing "noble kava, chemotype 245631" or something on his products and in various threads on the kava forum. When asked to present an actual COA he kept saying it was "confidential" and refused to share any pdfs. When Garry (and others) tested his kava it turned out to be pure tudei.
Either way, tudei is not a HUGE problem in Fiji, I suppose. most Fijian kavas will be noble as they don't really grow tudei. Obviosuly, some people import it from Vanuatu (sometimes just tudei peelings, which is the shittiest part of it, from the point of view of potential toxicity) and mix it with local kava to export it to other countries (or for domestic market?). Dr Schmidt has reported seeing entire containers full of tudei peelings or even dried makas being exported from Vanuatu to Fiji. But I think most of these exports would be sold as "no label", "mystery" kava as even the exporters know they sell total crap.
The problem with many Fijian kava powders though is that they often contain stems/aerial parts. Some vendors (e.g. Pacific Kava) actually openly sell pure stems! I've heard that this problem is likely to grow bigger as the price of kava roots has dramatically increased in Fiji..
But to be clear: I don't know anything about this vendor. Their kava may indeed be of very high quality. I just wanted to highlight the issues around testing and kava quality.
Either way, tudei is not a HUGE problem in Fiji, I suppose. most Fijian kavas will be noble as they don't really grow tudei. Obviosuly, some people import it from Vanuatu (sometimes just tudei peelings, which is the shittiest part of it, from the point of view of potential toxicity) and mix it with local kava to export it to other countries (or for domestic market?). Dr Schmidt has reported seeing entire containers full of tudei peelings or even dried makas being exported from Vanuatu to Fiji. But I think most of these exports would be sold as "no label", "mystery" kava as even the exporters know they sell total crap.
The problem with many Fijian kava powders though is that they often contain stems/aerial parts. Some vendors (e.g. Pacific Kava) actually openly sell pure stems! I've heard that this problem is likely to grow bigger as the price of kava roots has dramatically increased in Fiji..
But to be clear: I don't know anything about this vendor. Their kava may indeed be of very high quality. I just wanted to highlight the issues around testing and kava quality.
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yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
I've done an acetone test on multiple batches of the fijian waka, when violet found a tudei with the vanuatu they threw the whole batch out and took it off amazon within hours. I know I have been drinking this particular kava for over 3 years and I'm not dead yet so it can't be stems. I hate to seem like I am promoting them but they really do have good kava and have tried to do the right thing and be a responsible vendor.
Good to hear they got rid off the whole batch of spiked kava. But was it also packed into one of the bags with "tested noble" phrase? If yes, then that's the kind of problem I tried to highlight. But if this phrase is a new thing, then perhaps that one incident with tudei spiking persuade them to be more careful and test all their batches in Fiji. The presence of stems/aerial parts is just one other thing they might consider looking at/testing.
Do you know if they actually publish their COAs anywhere? Maybe they already include info on chloro presence..
Again, to make it 100% clear: I am not implying that there is anything wrong with their kava. It may well be absolutely top-notch. I am just making some general points about testing and Fijian kava.
Jana
Kava Enthusiast
That's how it looked when I ordered from them. I'm glad they're getting a better name for themselves. It had me nervous for a bit. However, would it be possible to get them on the forums as well? Perhaps they can get certified through the truekava testing process? I'm not sure if that's how it works or not of course but it would be a welcome addition to the list of certified vendors nonetheless, if they can prove their product is noble. Would that be possible???
For those of you who can't read the terrible cell phone pic, it says "Kava tested by the university of the South Pacific, found to be Noble kava chemotype (426315)" Guess it's no longer the mystery kava from Amazon.
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yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
No, like I said early on I don't think they knew much about kava themselves (sold it but didn't drink it maybe). This testing is just a recent thing, same with the kava info and their new website. I sent them a lot of literature on it when I found out, and I think that's what prompted them to get around to testing it.
yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
I'm emailing them now about joining up.
yepimonfire
Kava Enthusiast
If anyone is interested in their COA, this is on the website. If anyone wants to test it for chlorophyll I'd be happy to send some off. https://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=18190 According to their website, they do do tests of kava for exporting purposes. All they test for is lactones and moisture content. I know the kava isn't tudei obviously as evidenced by the first two numbers being 42 in the chemotype (a tudei would be something like 52 or 25) but I have no idea how the lactone concentrations change with the aerial part.
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Great! Thanks. While I personally agree that this kava is very unlikely to be non-noble, please note that chemotype alone doesnt guarantee nobility (it could still contain some tudei, but it is very unlikely that this would be a pure tudei). Therefore this COA in itself is not a proof that this kava is noble, as per info on their packaging. Have a look at Vanuatu's COAs to see the specific info on nobilityIf anyone is interested in their COA, this is on the website. If anyone wants to test it for chlorophyll I'd be happy to send some off. https://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=18190 According to their website, they do do tests of kava for exporting purposes. All they test for is lactones and moisture content. I know the kava isn't tudei obviously as evidenced by the first two numbers being 42 in the chemotype (a tudei would be something like 52 or 25) but I have no idea how the lactone concentrations change with the aerial part.
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