Powdered Kava Review Palarasul

[Jacob Bula]

cpReview

{"Grade":8,"Potency":7,"Mind":6,"Body":10,"Anxiety":8,"Sedative":8,"Taste":"10","Preparation":"8 tablespoons; Traditional ","Duration":"Until Sleep","SideEffects":"Light drowsiness next day","Headline":""}

I received this kava as a gift during the December holiday promotion. This kava has an amazing smell. When I opened the bag I was hit with a super charged peppery aroma. It smelled like an earthy blend of fresh ground cracked black pepper. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the best smelling kava I've ever smelled. I proceeded to make everyone in the house repeatedly smell it. It got to the point where I was annoying my family members.

The Palarasul tasted like it smelled. Very peppery up front with a bitter earthy taste to follow. It was very light and clean tasting. Easy to slam back. The grind was very fine, think pancake batter, with a strand of half inch root fiber sporadically thrown in. It was so fine that some of it made it through my filter. This didn't really bother me, as nausea was not a problem.

The effects were pleasant; however it wasn't as strong as I expected. I needed about double my normal dose to get in my root induced state of consciousness. I normally use around 4 tablespoons; I finished the night with 8. This may be due to the fact that this was a 4 year plant, where I do believe that they have 6 year plants that will be available. The effects consisted of an initial mild euphoria followed by heavy physical sedation.

In summary, for me, it's smell was exceptional, its taste was light, and its effects were standard Vanuatu with light grogginess the next morning. It is worth noting that my eyes did not get red or dry which usually happens to me with kava. Please comment if you have any questons.

 

[P.S.L. Kava]

Awesome! Thanks so much for the review! I loved hearing the part about annoying your family members with the asking them to give it a smell. I have done the same with each distinct cultivar. Hahah

And yes this is a 4 year old Palarasul not our 6+ year (Emphasize the plus.. ) we go for at LEAST 6 year old kava for the private market!

 

[Intrepidus_dux]

Well done. Good to know I haven't tried this one.

 

[Jacob Bula]

After spending more time with this one, I really like it as a night cap. It doesn't really do anything for me in the head department, but finishing a Waka session with a few tablespoons of this to go to sleep, is very nice. Very sedating, and it does smell amazing.

 

[ThePiper]

In the review you say the grind is fine with an occasional root piece thrown in (makas) but in the picture it looks like it is absolutely riddled with makas and not very finely ground. Is the picture maybe just misleading? Thanks for your review.

 

[Pacific Santo]

Hello there, I will just light on few things to make it clear from the P.S.L Vanuatu team directly
There is no Makas in our products, absolutely nowhere actually. We do not have Makas and we do not pay to have some.

To explain quickly, what you see is the fiber from the lateral roots.
Indeed, as Jacob noticed there is some powder very fine and some looking larger. This is right and this is only do to the natural kava composition, roots has fiber. We were not looking to micronize, therefore this is the normal appearance without Makas

From the picture perspective, yes, it looks like there is much fiber. From my experience, shaking a packet bring the fiber in the upper part of the packet.
There is 30% of Lateral roots in the packets and 70% of basal in those packets.

We are getting some effects out voluntarily peeling our kava, indeed as you know there are kavalactones in the skin but not only. We are used to process this way to have cleaner products while still having an upper strength.
I recognize the issue about the strength not hitting you as it should guys is unfamiliar to us and compared to the other feedback we had. This is still possible, we do not doubt your experience and we are trying to understand it.

Thank you for the returns guys, this is highly appreciated from everyone in the team!
Have a good day everyone,
Take care,
Alex
P.S.L Vanuatu

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Hello there, I will just light on few things to make it clear from the P.S.L Vanuatu team directly
There is no Makas in our products, absolutely nowhere actually. We do not have Makas and we do not pay to have some.

To explain quickly, what you see is the fiber from the lateral roots.
Indeed, as Jacob noticed there is some powder very fine and some looking larger. This is right and this is only do to the natural kava composition, roots has fiber. We were not looking to micronize, therefore this is the normal appearance without Makas

From the picture perspective, yes, it looks like there is much fiber. From my experience, shaking a packet bring the fiber in the upper part of the packet.
There is 30% of Lateral roots in the packets and 70% of basal in those packets.

We are getting some effects out voluntarily peeling our kava, indeed as you know there are kavalactones in the skin but not only. We are used to process this way to have cleaner products while still having an upper strength.
I recognize the issue about the strength not hitting you as it should guys is unfamiliar to us and compared to the other feedback we had. This is still possible, we do not doubt your experience and we are trying to understand it.

Thank you for the returns guys, this is highly appreciated from everyone in the team!
Have a good day everyone,
Take care,
Alex
P.S.L Vanuatu

Hi Alex,
I think I know where the confusion comes from. Within our small kavaforums community many people have been using the term "makas" to refer to not just kava leftovers, but also to the tough inner bit of the kava root. I suspect that's what @ThePiper has been referring to here.

On a different note, I agree with you that Palarasul is a beautiful, very pleasant cultivar! And agree that peeling the kava is the way to go!
Best,
Henry

 

[Jacob Bula]

In the review you say the grind is fine with an occasional root piece thrown in (makas) but in the picture it looks like it is absolutely riddled with makas and not very finely ground. Is the picture maybe just misleading? Thanks for your review.

The grind is very fine, but it does have some root fibers sprinkled in. Its not a consistent grind, but that didn't bother me. There were no large pieces of hard root that I get with some vendors, just strands of root fiber mixed in.