micronized kava problem and potential evaporation extraction thoughts

[Jay Charles]

does anyone else get stomach issues if they drink the really gritty micronized kavas besides me? seems like it doesn't matter how good quality the kava is.. if i drink just a little too much of the powder it will make me need to be near a bathroom lets just say hah. i guess it makes sense given that the powder is just ground up root and that's not digestible; so it's like swallowing a ton of fiber or something. (at least i don't have problems with being stopped up though lol)

second part of the question: so then is there a way to strain it well enough that there is not much gritty stuff but strong effects? doesn't seem to be an easy solution as a LOT of the kavalactones are in the tiny root particles, and you can't really squeeze them easily because even with an ultra fine filter, the particles just tend to go right through. plus if you DO use a fine enough filter, it can be incredibly slow and laborious to do.. because it can turn into a ball of mud basically. i've been experimenting with a knitted sock that's fairly porous and then 1 or 2 nylon stockings that are much finer layered together(porous sock on inside and finer nylons on outside) and pouring the soaked powder in. then kneading out as much of the water as possible. it works ok but i think i'm losing a LOT of the kavalactones that way. (and it takes a long damn time).

i know it's a weird endeavor but i've been wracking my brain over it. if i had like a 10 ton hydraulic press and a coffee filter that might do it haha. of course another option might be figuring out a good way make an evaporation extraction with everclear or something. i know they have done kavalactone extractions sonically.. but no idea how i could do that myself. i would just buy kava extract but a: i want to know how to do it so i can potentially save money, and b: i would like to do it with the different cultivars i prefer. oh yeah and how great would it be to take all the leftover kava grounds and save them up to extract more good stuff out of. might save a bit of money. (for a LOT of work though i know)

just thought i'd throw this out there and see if anyone has any thoughts. anyone tried making their own extracts?

 

[verticity]

I have the same problem with micronized. I found that filtering it with a normal (80 micron) filter bag helps. Most of it passes through the filter, but it does catch some of the gritty stuff, and is easier on the stomach afterwards.

 

[Jay Charles]

I have the same problem with micronized. I found that filtering it with a normal (80 micron) filter bag helps. Most of it passes through the filter, but it does catch some of the gritty stuff, and is easier on the stomach afterwards.

good to know i'm not the only one! yeah i will sometimes even filter it and let it settle and even after a pretty thorough filtering, there's still very fine root matter that settles on the bottom. (i usually drink this and it doesn't cause much trouble because it's so fine and there's not much of it.

but yeah i guess i'm mainly looking at how to stretch my kava powder a lot farther because of how much $ i spend on it. i was good with my super-filtered kava for a good while but then i had a small shell which had a LOT of root powder in it (accidentally.. a friend made it). then the effects hit me like a train and i realized well man, my friend is using the same amount of kava and the effects from his are WAAAY stronger. i guess that's really what made me want to re-evaluate my prep/straining method.

 

[Edward]

That's the main reason I tend to use only med grind these days.