Wienerschnitzel
Newbie
Hey there, everybody! I'm new to the forum and am still unfamiliar with whatever arcane mathematics of etiquette apply here, so I apologize if I should've posted an introduction elsewhere first. That said, I've been lurking for a while now and I have a bit of a puzzle I'd like to run by the Kava Forums hive mind. So, here goes:
I've used kava in the past, but until recently I hadn't touched the stuff for over a year. When I decided to quit drinking a month ago to shave off some pounds, the jar of ground kava in my pantry started looking mighty fine again so I returned to the root. Overall, the experience has been great - I feel calmer and more collected, and my baseline anxiety has dropped quite a bit. So far, so good. Unfortunately, since last Sunday, I've been struck some very uncomfortable stomach issues. I had a little bit of leftover kava on Monday and a regular session yesterday. Now, at random intervals throughout the past days, I've had waves of intestinal cramps and all the fun and excitement that comes with them, accompanied by surges of nausea. Delightful. Being somewhat prone to anxiety, my mind is naturally hunting for an explanation. And the searchlight has swung onto kava. I'd hate to have to stop using it, since it's been good to me so far, so I hope you can help me figure out if kava really is to blame.
I average about 4 evenings of kava use each week, usually Thursday through Sunday. Generally, I prepare a light mix - between 4 and 6 tbsp of medium grind Malekula Magic kneaded in 600 - 900 mL of warm water. I've been using a single 15 denier nylon stocking as a strainer. I'll do two washes, mix them together and pour the lot in a bottle, then shake the bottle and serve about 100 mL per shell. I space them as I see fit, going by feeling more than fixed intervals. That's how I've always prepared it. Whatever sediment gets through the stocking ends up in the glass and goes down the hatch, but I always figured these were just kavalactones precipitating out of the solution and left it at that. It certainly never bothered me before.
One thing that did change, though, is the supplier. The old batch of Malekula Magic I had left over from last year came from the Vanuatu Kava Store. This most recent batch came from Global Kava Exports and the grind is a bit coarser. I've also noticed some little black particles kicking around in the grog, along with some grainy stuff that feels like sand. I figured these might be root particles, but I couldn't imagine they would have such a dramatic effect on my body. After all, I'm no newbie to kava and I've never experienced anything like this in the past, even though I always drank the fine sediment with the kava. And it's not like I'm tossing and washing or drinking blender-made kava gloop.
So, what do you think? Is this just a coincidence that my mind has latched onto, or does it sound like something kava-related? Could the sediment be causing these issues? Do I need to increase the denier number and/or double up on the stockings? Should I let the grog settle and just pour off the liquid layer for use? Or do I need to lay off the kava entirely and let things quiet down?
I've used kava in the past, but until recently I hadn't touched the stuff for over a year. When I decided to quit drinking a month ago to shave off some pounds, the jar of ground kava in my pantry started looking mighty fine again so I returned to the root. Overall, the experience has been great - I feel calmer and more collected, and my baseline anxiety has dropped quite a bit. So far, so good. Unfortunately, since last Sunday, I've been struck some very uncomfortable stomach issues. I had a little bit of leftover kava on Monday and a regular session yesterday. Now, at random intervals throughout the past days, I've had waves of intestinal cramps and all the fun and excitement that comes with them, accompanied by surges of nausea. Delightful. Being somewhat prone to anxiety, my mind is naturally hunting for an explanation. And the searchlight has swung onto kava. I'd hate to have to stop using it, since it's been good to me so far, so I hope you can help me figure out if kava really is to blame.
I average about 4 evenings of kava use each week, usually Thursday through Sunday. Generally, I prepare a light mix - between 4 and 6 tbsp of medium grind Malekula Magic kneaded in 600 - 900 mL of warm water. I've been using a single 15 denier nylon stocking as a strainer. I'll do two washes, mix them together and pour the lot in a bottle, then shake the bottle and serve about 100 mL per shell. I space them as I see fit, going by feeling more than fixed intervals. That's how I've always prepared it. Whatever sediment gets through the stocking ends up in the glass and goes down the hatch, but I always figured these were just kavalactones precipitating out of the solution and left it at that. It certainly never bothered me before.
One thing that did change, though, is the supplier. The old batch of Malekula Magic I had left over from last year came from the Vanuatu Kava Store. This most recent batch came from Global Kava Exports and the grind is a bit coarser. I've also noticed some little black particles kicking around in the grog, along with some grainy stuff that feels like sand. I figured these might be root particles, but I couldn't imagine they would have such a dramatic effect on my body. After all, I'm no newbie to kava and I've never experienced anything like this in the past, even though I always drank the fine sediment with the kava. And it's not like I'm tossing and washing or drinking blender-made kava gloop.
So, what do you think? Is this just a coincidence that my mind has latched onto, or does it sound like something kava-related? Could the sediment be causing these issues? Do I need to increase the denier number and/or double up on the stockings? Should I let the grog settle and just pour off the liquid layer for use? Or do I need to lay off the kava entirely and let things quiet down?
Since you say the grind is now coarser, then that means there should be LESS sediment coming through. Something that