it looks like I want to try some simple (powdered?) Kava to begin my journey with. I seek a simple, prepared powder to start with which may be mildly euphoric, SAFE and calming. Some folks mentioned "noble" varieties.
Where should I start?
The easy route into kava is drinking micronized or instant kava. The key differences between these two is that micronized kava is very finely-ground dry kava. This kava solution has good strength but can cause some stomach aches, depending on how well a distributor peels their kava. The outsides of the root have very little kavalactone content but can cause stomach upset. I have not personally had micronized so I'm going by what others have said mostly.
Instant, on the other hand, is made from fresh roots. They prepare kava grog with the fresh roots then they extract the water from it to leave a powder that mixes with water and you drink it. This is a nice, refreshing way to drink kava but it's surprisingly easy to overdo this as well. No stomach upset generally from this.
As with anything easy, you gotta pay the convenience tax. Micronized will be cheaper than instant, but not as cheap as the last solution which I talk about below.
The harder (at first) but more cost-effective kava consumption is the
traditional preparation with medium-grind kava root powder. This is powder that you have to put in a strainer bag and knead for 5-10 minutes while it's submerged in water. EMPHASIS ON KNEADING! Kavalactones are overall not water soluble. The kneading action extracts the good stuff out of the root powder and into the water. Steeping is not enough. To make life easier, warm water is recommended as your hands won't get cold (because it's not cold water) and a lot of the good chemicals you want extract better in waters at higher temperature. You don't want to go too hot though. As the kava "sediment" is extracted from the grind, it'll settle at the bottom of your bowl. So when transferring grog from any receptacle, give your grog a stir before pouring yourself a cup or transferring your freshly-made beverage from bowl to pitcher.
Another big plus with medium grind is that it can be reused. You don't completely extract the kavalactones from medium-grind kava and so you want to reuse your grinds at least once with some fresh water. There's a certain someone (ahem:
@Krunkie McKrunkface ) who is very knowledgeable in economical kava prep if you're looking to drink kava while saving some
tögrögs!
The last benefit to medium grind is simple: Selection! Most vendors don't carry too many varieties of micronized and instant kavas (I am not familiar with all vendors, so prove me wrong, folks! No harm done to show me the contrary) but they'll have a fair number of medium grind kava varieties. If one kind doesn't work for you, perhaps another will. Kava is heckin' diverse. Sample packs are a great way to get you going on multiple types of kava at once, so check around for those. If you find something you like, you tend to save money buying in larger quantities, not to mention kava varieties can be very vintage. You may not see something you like for a while if ever again as some sources tend to be very limited.
