Member Soapbox The Götterdämmerung Price list

[kavamehameha]

Obviously I am not panicking.

Right... hence the overly dramatic thread title...

More importantly, I have price ceilings beyond which I refuse to buy and my point is that many kavas for me have now suddenly and recently gone through that ceiling. There used to be many dozens of kavas I would buy.

I certainly can relate to that. I can't afford buying Pouni Ono anymore, which I really loved. But there are plenty of other kavas which are still affordable, and as you say you have a huge amount stocked up. So what's the problem again?

It's also a matter of dosage. 1 lb lasts much longer if you use less and do several washes. You're a master of this. With something like 10 washes you should only need 1 lb per month or something like that.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Right... hence the overly dramatic thread title...


I certainly can relate to that. I can't afford buying Pouni Ono anymore, which I really loved. But there are plenty of other kavas which are still affordable, and as you say you have a huge amount stocked up. So what's the problem again?

It's also a matter of dosage. 1 lb lasts much longer if you use less and do several washes. You're a master of this. With something like 10 washes you should only need 1 lb per month or something like that.

Ironically, Pouni Ono is still one of those in the BUY category for me at the current price. Well worth it, IMO. Obvously we're all going to have different break points, I guess.

My needs are greater chez moi because my wife is a monster kava piggy, almost as bad as me, but she has been behind a lot of the kava salvage operations we run so I figure she practically pays for herself. Kind of a no brainer. Feeding her kava, I mean. She has brains out the ying-yang.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

Prices have been going up for a couple of years now, so that is not new but it is discouraging to see vendor prices going up almost every month. Sure, it can be suggested that we are now paying more for higher quality noble kava that is stronger than in the past but that just isn't true.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

Kava is still cheaper (not to mention healthier) than any alternative (alcohol etc), at least thats still the case here.

And kava from good sources has remained roughly consistent, at least thats how i feel. Personally, I actually use just 35g of my usual mix these days as opposed to 60 that i used a few years ago. But maybe I ve just learned how to use it more effectively.

Good quality kava is actually pretty closely priced to alcohol at this point. A pound of Nangol is just under $70 shipped. Nambawan is just over $70. With a prime subscription, when it's in stock, Supreme is about $60/lbs. Wow/Stone are about $82 shipped. KavaTime is just over $65 shipped. I've gotten some pretty good stuff from TKR but with shipping, a pound is just over $90. Aside from the prices, again, quality and consistency have been an issue for a couple of years but took a nose dive in 2017. Even just a year or two ago, my shopping list for kava would have included many more vendors products but they are no longer worth it because of both high price and sub par potency.

 

[Groggy]

Good quality kava is actually pretty closely priced to alcohol at this point. A pound of Nangol is just under $70 shipped. Nambawan is just over $70. With a prime subscription, when it's in stock, Supreme is about $60/lbs. Wow/Stone are about $82 shipped. KavaTime is just over $65 shipped. I've gotten some pretty good stuff from TKR but with shipping, a pound is just over $90. Aside from the prices, again, quality and consistency have been an issue for a couple of years but took a nose dive in 2017. Even just a year or two ago, my shopping list for kava would have included many more vendors products but they are no longer worth it because of both high price and sub par potency.

That's why you got to find one or two solid vendors and run with it, lol. I have noticed an increase all around but the benefits of kava will always FAR outweigh those of alcohol. My frequency in buying has decreased and I've noticed some chemotype changes among batches not so much loss of potency, just variations from what I imagine, are different plants and harvests. All in all, I am not happy to pay more but I wouldn't trade it for alcohol or anything else.

 

[nabanga]

Strangely there is something of a dual pricing happening in Vanuatu currently.

Export prices paid for fresh kava in Vila are up to 3000vt(US$30)kg, but locally can be had for 12-1400vt/kg.
Nakamal prices are the same as 20 years ago and quality is still great, in Santo at least, so that's effectively a large drop in price. Before I came here last week I had heard anecdotally that shell sizes had decreased a lot and quality had gone down due to the huge overseas demand, but I haven't found this at all. Shells are the same size as always and it's clean, fresh and strong.
It's good to see the original kava drinkers are looking after themselves first.



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[SelfBiasResistor]

That's why you got to find one or two solid vendors and run with it, lol.

That's about what I'm doing now. I think I've learned my lesson from straying from those that I mentioned. I wasn't suggesting that alcohol is better than kava, it's just frustrating seeing how the market has changed over the years -- especially when certain people claim that it's improving. There seems to be more and more people posting about being disappointed in their purchases and that is understandable considering how much different those products were when they were reviewed years ago.

 

[avahZ]

That's about what I'm doing now. I think I've learned my lesson from straying from those that I mentioned. I wasn't suggesting that alcohol is better than kava, it's just frustrating seeing how the market has changed over the years -- especially when certain people claim that it's improving. There seems to be more and more people posting about being disappointed in their purchases and that is understandable considering how much different those products were when they were reviewed years ago.

Not going to say much on this as I have stated my opinion in other threads; however, your last sentence hit the nail on the head...

 

[kastom_lif]

There are probably several factors affecting our memories of kava from back in the day.

1: People are rushing more immature kava to market nowdadays.

2: Old school kava may have had more tudei in it.

3:Those good ol' rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia.