Masking the taste of kava

[verticity]

I've had good luck with just basic 7 up. I measured it out just like water and did my kneading. It was not bad at all much better than plain water edit: just read the first post and my option isn't even close to being sugar free, sorry

I've used Sprite Zero. It is sugar free, but it is also acidic, like all soft drinks.

 

[verticity]

Milk of magnesia and human blood are non-acidic. So if you happen to be a vampire with indigestion...

 

[Foodi ideas]

Due to the overwhelming negative connotation of the taste of this root drink, there has sprung up a whole art form dedicated to disguising the taste of Kava. There are a number of ways that folks have attempted to do this ranging from mixing the kava drink with fruit juices or other kava mixers to using chasers to take the edge off.

Perhaps the simplest thing that Kava drinkers do to lessen the impact of the taste is to choose a Kava that has a mild taste in the first place. Believe it or not, there are some cultivars of noble Kava that actually don’t taste too bad. If you take into account types of grind, preparation methods or include some of the instant Kavas or pre-mixed Kava drinks, then you can actually find a Kava that is quite mild tasting or, at least, palatable, especially when strained properly.

Personally, I have found some of the Fijian and Tongan kavas to be amongst the mildest tasting. Fijian Loa Waka and Tongan Pouni Ono are two of my favourite Kavas that come with a decent amount of potency but with a mild taste that does not prompt nausea from the get-go. Good tasting Kava tends to be lighter in color, in my experience, and the fresher you can get it the better. There is sometimes a hint of fresh woody pine rather than the deeper earthy notes of some other Kavas.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

What can I use? Someone help me.

I'm currently using 2 cups of coconut milk + 10 packets of splenda + 1/2 tsp of lemon juice + 1/2 tsp of olive oil + 1/3 tsp of cinnamon for each 1 tbsp of kava that I drink.

The coconut milk + olive oil are mostly for the fats, which I've heard will make kava last longer + become more effective.

But even then I'm getting tired of this taste. I need to mix it up a little.

What (or a combination of whats) can I use that will absolutely mask the taste of kava that's sugar-free and non-acidic?

The reason I'm using splenda instead of sugar is because sugar is bad for my teeth. Very low pH and very acidic.

Forget the fat. People get hung up on that but it really really really doesn't matter. Yes it can for some people, hard core experienced kava drinkers all, perhaps improve their experience by maybe 10%. If you are one of the small percentage of hardcore, then yes, it matters. But really? No, it doesn't matter. Forget the fat, unless you love the fat.

Generally I advise people to avoid additives. Just make grog, chill it down in the fridge or with ice, and do the smallest possible shot you can do without it bothering you. 2 - 4 oz of very cold grog will go down fast, in one go. Wait till your face stops contorting and do another shot. They key is to take what would normally be the shell you would want to drink. Say 8 oz. And then just break it up into units small enough that you can chug. Have some ginger beer handy to chase the taste. Basically maybe do a 2 oz shot, take a swig of ginger beer, wait a minute or two, do another shot etc. So it takes 10 minutes to get down 8oz instead of one minute, but it could be a lot easier. Worth a try, anyway. But in general I would focus less on additives to mask the taste at all and look at technique: chug tiny amounts in sequence, chasing with a strongly flavoured beverage to mask the taste and help with any stomach issues. Ginger beer is far from the only good chaser here but it is an ideal one.

Linguistic Note: in the kava world that's not what the word chaser means. I was using it in the alcohol sense of something you have immediately after a shot to ameliorate any unpleasantness. Properly speaking, in the kava world a chaser is something you eat after you have been drinking kava for a while in your session and want a snack. Typically these are quite high calorie junk food crap. It's wonderful, although I understand in the Pacific there are health hazards from this practice of eating "bad for you" food as kava chasers, although selling them can be a lucrative or even crucial money-maker for nakamals as impulse purchases are in many stores and gas stations here, or the wine list in a restaurant, yeah the resto sells food but that just breaks even, they make money on the impulse purchases, the Beer-Nuts n stuff. I used to love greasy hot spicy sausage as a chaser but I graduated to ice cream.

 

[the_wilderness]

I keep the grog simple, just water, and chug it down in one go. It's awful, but everything I've added makes it worse and often thicker to boot. (I have to use a LOT for effects so it's already thick as paint, just my personal constitution.) The best thing I've found to get the nasty taste gone are strawberries. Most tropical fruits work pretty good as well. Then I have a piece of chocolate and the creaminess resets my palette nicely.

 

[ProjectK]

I lowkey just hold my nose between every shell. I dont like mixing it with anything else.

 

[Intrepidus_dux]

I know some who throw in fancy cinnamon. Another just followed up each shell with rinsing out his mouth with mouthwash.