HeadHodge
Bula To Eternity
The other day I received a gift basket from the Kava Bunny, full of Kalm with Kava samples.
In the basket were 2-2oz bottles of Concentrate. I was really excited because I've been wanting to try this stuff for quite awhile. And now was my chance!!
Me and wifey go out to lunch frequently. The places we go to are mostly bar and grills or sports bars, simply because that's mostly what's here on Mission Beach in SanDiego. We're close to two universities and it's a hot spot for spring break.
Anyway wifey drinks wine and I drink kava. I'm unable to (or afraid to) make my own grog and sneak into the restaurant. So what I do is order a glass of unsweetened ice tea and quietly dump two heaping teaspoons of my favorite micro or instant into the tea with four little packets of whatever sugar free sweetener the restaurant has available.
What I did, instead of my usual routine, was to order the glass of ice tea and dump a whole 2oz bottle of concentrate into the glass, stirred, then drank (with straw). Oh.... I always drink my kava on an empty stomach just before eating our lunch.
The two things that hit me right away is that it had practically "zero" kava taste to it and that it was really ultra sweet tasting. The lack of the lovely flavor of kava was very welcomed, but I'm on a low-carb (low sugar) diet and am pretty hyper-sensitive to anything sweet (with anything like bread, sauces, ketchup, etc.). But, I have to admit, the flavor was really pretty good. Kinda of a fruit punch type flavor to it. But the sweetness was overcoming even though it was mixed in with unsweetened ice tea (which has a bitter flavor to it).
After drinking my grog. I felt a little numbness in the mouth and felt a very light wave of headiness. Definitely not the same head rush I would get when using something like Mo'i. During the course of lunch I started feeling pretty relaxed but nothing really powerful. Even though the effect wasn't super strong, it was pleasant. What surprised me is how long it lasted for the amount I took. My heady kava's come on strong but leave fairly quickly (usually by time I walk home after lunch). But this stuff stayed with me until late afternoon. That was cool. This makes me feel like it's more of a medium-weak to medium strength heavy kava. I wish I could find a chemotype for this, just to verify my theory. I know it's a proprietary blend, but I'm hoping they will publish a chemotype some day.
I had one more concentrate bullet in my kava basket to use. So what I decided to try the next day when we again went out to lunch, is this time I dumped the remaining bottle of my concentrate "and" one heaping teaspoon of instant Mo'i into my glass of ice tea. The result was
. Between the bitterness of the tea and the Mo'i, it really toned down the sweetness quite a bit. But what was so amazing, I could only taste the barest hint of a kava flavor from the added Mo'i in my drink. This made it for what I would have to honestly say the absolute most pleasant kava drink I've had since starting my use of kava. 
I received my usual instant headiness from the Mo'i (with only 1 teaspoon instead of my usual 2 tsps) and then during lunch the concentrate kicked in and made for a really pleasurable rest of the day for me (instead of the short lasting effects I normally get from my Mo'i). I have to honestly say, this may be the only way I'm drinking my daytime kava from now on. It was that good for me.
It's great that they provide nutritional information. The calorie count is great, but the carbs from sugars are a little high for my diet, but definitely not obscenely so (like you would see on something like a candy bar). I just wish more info about the kava used itself was provided, like chemotype and quantity of lactones per serving. Nothing that I would think would expose any trade secrets.
Expense wise it's a little spendy at $5/serving for me. But it's really a matter of perspective. If I go to a restaurant and order a glass of Pinot Noir, I can easily spend $7 to $12 per 12oz serving. If you factor in the cost of the teaspoon of Mo'i, it bumps up the price a little more, but still comparable to a glass of wine. If you factor in the health benefits from not drinking the wine and all the calories in it, then to me it becomes a no brainer.
BULA
In the basket were 2-2oz bottles of Concentrate. I was really excited because I've been wanting to try this stuff for quite awhile. And now was my chance!!
Me and wifey go out to lunch frequently. The places we go to are mostly bar and grills or sports bars, simply because that's mostly what's here on Mission Beach in SanDiego. We're close to two universities and it's a hot spot for spring break.
Anyway wifey drinks wine and I drink kava. I'm unable to (or afraid to) make my own grog and sneak into the restaurant. So what I do is order a glass of unsweetened ice tea and quietly dump two heaping teaspoons of my favorite micro or instant into the tea with four little packets of whatever sugar free sweetener the restaurant has available.
What I did, instead of my usual routine, was to order the glass of ice tea and dump a whole 2oz bottle of concentrate into the glass, stirred, then drank (with straw). Oh.... I always drink my kava on an empty stomach just before eating our lunch.
The two things that hit me right away is that it had practically "zero" kava taste to it and that it was really ultra sweet tasting. The lack of the lovely flavor of kava was very welcomed, but I'm on a low-carb (low sugar) diet and am pretty hyper-sensitive to anything sweet (with anything like bread, sauces, ketchup, etc.). But, I have to admit, the flavor was really pretty good. Kinda of a fruit punch type flavor to it. But the sweetness was overcoming even though it was mixed in with unsweetened ice tea (which has a bitter flavor to it).
After drinking my grog. I felt a little numbness in the mouth and felt a very light wave of headiness. Definitely not the same head rush I would get when using something like Mo'i. During the course of lunch I started feeling pretty relaxed but nothing really powerful. Even though the effect wasn't super strong, it was pleasant. What surprised me is how long it lasted for the amount I took. My heady kava's come on strong but leave fairly quickly (usually by time I walk home after lunch). But this stuff stayed with me until late afternoon. That was cool. This makes me feel like it's more of a medium-weak to medium strength heavy kava. I wish I could find a chemotype for this, just to verify my theory. I know it's a proprietary blend, but I'm hoping they will publish a chemotype some day.
I had one more concentrate bullet in my kava basket to use. So what I decided to try the next day when we again went out to lunch, is this time I dumped the remaining bottle of my concentrate "and" one heaping teaspoon of instant Mo'i into my glass of ice tea. The result was
. Between the bitterness of the tea and the Mo'i, it really toned down the sweetness quite a bit. But what was so amazing, I could only taste the barest hint of a kava flavor from the added Mo'i in my drink. This made it for what I would have to honestly say the absolute most pleasant kava drink I've had since starting my use of kava. I received my usual instant headiness from the Mo'i (with only 1 teaspoon instead of my usual 2 tsps) and then during lunch the concentrate kicked in and made for a really pleasurable rest of the day for me (instead of the short lasting effects I normally get from my Mo'i). I have to honestly say, this may be the only way I'm drinking my daytime kava from now on. It was that good for me.
It's great that they provide nutritional information. The calorie count is great, but the carbs from sugars are a little high for my diet, but definitely not obscenely so (like you would see on something like a candy bar). I just wish more info about the kava used itself was provided, like chemotype and quantity of lactones per serving. Nothing that I would think would expose any trade secrets.
Expense wise it's a little spendy at $5/serving for me. But it's really a matter of perspective. If I go to a restaurant and order a glass of Pinot Noir, I can easily spend $7 to $12 per 12oz serving. If you factor in the cost of the teaspoon of Mo'i, it bumps up the price a little more, but still comparable to a glass of wine. If you factor in the health benefits from not drinking the wine and all the calories in it, then to me it becomes a no brainer.
BULA
