(Apologies in advance for the long writeup.)
This kava is soon to be for sale on Kalm's website. It's a new one in Mike's stable of fine kavas and an excellent addition to his already great lineup of Borongoru, Pouni Ono and Borogu.
What is Loa Waka?
Chemotype Examined
Preparation and Taste
Onset and Effects
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Second Day Effects
By way of follow-up: The next morning I arose early (and easily) and had a lot of early Sunday preparations to make for Easter, so I was quite busy all morning and had no trouble/lethargy/sleepiness to battle with. So very "clean" on the system without a lot of residual effect the next day.
This kava is soon to be for sale on Kalm's website. It's a new one in Mike's stable of fine kavas and an excellent addition to his already great lineup of Borongoru, Pouni Ono and Borogu.
What is Loa Waka?
Kava the Pacific Elixir by Dr. Vincent Lebot, et al. lists Loa as coming from the Fiji island of Taveuni. Small island on the eastern side of the archipelago. He lists the chemotype cataloged as "643251" which is interesting to me, as I've not had kava with such prominent Methysticin. This actual kava was tested by TK Group Labs to have a chemotype of "463251" which is pretty close and has slightly more prominent Kavain than Methysticin. It appears to be the real article. The kavalactone percentage given by TK Group Labs HPLC assay is nearly 10% at 9.69%. It's not as strong as something like Mahakea or Papa Kea from GHK, but about average strength.
The K/DM ratio (Kavain to Dihydromethysticin) is 2.65, which is quite high. K/DM is an experimental measure developed by TK Group Labs to assess "tudei-ness" of the kava. High DM is always a sign of very sedating kava, and high Kavain is a sign of "heady" kava. With that ratio, it would appear to be headier than most other kava the Labs have tested, excepting Borongoru also from Kalm, and BKH's Nambawan.
It's also a "Waka" meaning that only lateral roots are used and not stump/corm root. This tends to make for a headier kava and some of that high Kavain content is no doubt the result of using only the lateral roots.
The K/DM ratio (Kavain to Dihydromethysticin) is 2.65, which is quite high. K/DM is an experimental measure developed by TK Group Labs to assess "tudei-ness" of the kava. High DM is always a sign of very sedating kava, and high Kavain is a sign of "heady" kava. With that ratio, it would appear to be headier than most other kava the Labs have tested, excepting Borongoru also from Kalm, and BKH's Nambawan.
It's also a "Waka" meaning that only lateral roots are used and not stump/corm root. This tends to make for a headier kava and some of that high Kavain content is no doubt the result of using only the lateral roots.
Chemotype Examined
All that said, I would expect it to be pretty heady, and low on sedating kavalactones. Here's how the chemotype breaks out from most prominent to least prominent:
4 - Kavain - Euhoria
6 - Methysticin - Anticonvulsant
3 - Yangonin - Anxiogenic
2 - DHK (Dihydrokavain) - Sedating
5 - DHM (Dihydromethysticin) - Very Sedating
1 - DMY (Desmethoxyangonin) - No idea what this does.
All of the sedating "heavy" or "saturated" molecules come last in the chemotype, meaning this should not be a sedating variety. All of the kavalactones responsible for euphoria and stimulating/heady effects come first meaning this should be a daytime/up variety.6 - Methysticin - Anticonvulsant
3 - Yangonin - Anxiogenic
2 - DHK (Dihydrokavain) - Sedating
5 - DHM (Dihydromethysticin) - Very Sedating
1 - DMY (Desmethoxyangonin) - No idea what this does.
Preparation and Taste
I mixed 4 heaping tablespoons to 2 1/2 cups of water, almost three. I soaked for 5 minutes, then kneaded for 15 with a small second wash to convince me my kneading was done.
The taste is very mild. It lacks the normal bitter bite at the back end and is very easy to drink. I would compare the taste to something like KavaBoy or a light Tongan or other Fijian kava. It tastes very fresh, and the amount of waxy residue deposits on the fine strainer suggests freshness and easy access to the kavalactone oils during kneading.
The taste is very mild. It lacks the normal bitter bite at the back end and is very easy to drink. I would compare the taste to something like KavaBoy or a light Tongan or other Fijian kava. It tastes very fresh, and the amount of waxy residue deposits on the fine strainer suggests freshness and easy access to the kavalactone oils during kneading.
Onset and Effects
I tried a 2 tbsp to 2 cups water preparation last night and was very happy with the effects. They were generally mild, and at the end of my session I decided to augment with a few glasses of Kalm Concentrate, which pushed me over the edge into a sub-krunk happy state. Tonight I doubled the amount of powdered root and increased the water by 50% to try a stronger brew. Even with the 2 tbsp brew from last night, I found I had a light euphoric feeling, an easy grin, an easy laugh and was very relaxed and happy to be spending time with my daughter watching Bob's Burgers, and then later, playing guitar and piano together, with her on the piano. It was great. Second day effects were nice too, leaving me in a generally good mood all day despite needing to move a bunch of boxes out of storage, into the house, run to the dump, recycle a bunch of cardboard, drop things off at Goodwill, etc.
Tonight, I felt something at about 30 minutes and two shells. I continued shells through an hour and got 5 shells out of my batch this time. I continued to remark on how easy to drink this kava is. I felt slight but long lasting numbness towards the back of my tongue and in my throat. Seem to get that with Fijian kava, I think.
I felt very little "throat hit" like I tend to feel with stronger kava. Mahakea, Mo'i and Nene from GHK all have a prominent throat sting on first shell. That's how I tend to know there's a high kavalactone percentage. This had almost no throat hit and continued to be very drinkable all the way down the dregs.
I finished my shells at one hour and fifteen minutes (averaging 15 minutes per shell) and am feeling amused and relaxed as I type this. I'm just now starting to the warm face/pink cheeks feeling I get from heady kava. I got a small amount of that feeling last night, but it was fleeting at about an hour into my session. I'm having a small amount of soft-focus lens effect with my vision, but not a lot. I suspect higher DHK gives me that, but I'm making stuff up. I have nothing to back that up with other than my own observations.
The effects are very light in the body (I feel floaty) with very little eye lag. I feel a sense of eagerness/anticipation and warmth on my skin. I'm amused and open and looking forward to a nice night playing on the PS4 tonight with my kids. The effect is very clean and bright and lacks any sign of body drag. I'm very clear headed and things appear vivid and sharp-edged versus the soft-focus I get with most kava. I'm getting a bit of the "excited puppy running around in my chest" feeling that I routinely get with Mo'i and sometimes with Borongoru and Nambawan. I don't feel like melting into the couch, I feel like walking around and doing stuff.
Tonight, I felt something at about 30 minutes and two shells. I continued shells through an hour and got 5 shells out of my batch this time. I continued to remark on how easy to drink this kava is. I felt slight but long lasting numbness towards the back of my tongue and in my throat. Seem to get that with Fijian kava, I think.
I felt very little "throat hit" like I tend to feel with stronger kava. Mahakea, Mo'i and Nene from GHK all have a prominent throat sting on first shell. That's how I tend to know there's a high kavalactone percentage. This had almost no throat hit and continued to be very drinkable all the way down the dregs.
I finished my shells at one hour and fifteen minutes (averaging 15 minutes per shell) and am feeling amused and relaxed as I type this. I'm just now starting to the warm face/pink cheeks feeling I get from heady kava. I got a small amount of that feeling last night, but it was fleeting at about an hour into my session. I'm having a small amount of soft-focus lens effect with my vision, but not a lot. I suspect higher DHK gives me that, but I'm making stuff up. I have nothing to back that up with other than my own observations.
The effects are very light in the body (I feel floaty) with very little eye lag. I feel a sense of eagerness/anticipation and warmth on my skin. I'm amused and open and looking forward to a nice night playing on the PS4 tonight with my kids. The effect is very clean and bright and lacks any sign of body drag. I'm very clear headed and things appear vivid and sharp-edged versus the soft-focus I get with most kava. I'm getting a bit of the "excited puppy running around in my chest" feeling that I routinely get with Mo'i and sometimes with Borongoru and Nambawan. I don't feel like melting into the couch, I feel like walking around and doing stuff.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
This is a clean, high-quality kava that extracts easily and tastes "fresh" and very Fijian, with mild mouth numbing in the tongue and predominantly heady and uplifting effects. It has a bit of giddiness and eagerness mixed with bemusement and patience. A very lucid feeling kava with warmth in the face and scalp and the "pouring warm water" sensation in the chest. Very lovely and peaceful but not sedating or immobilizing.
It's not a super-strong kava, so more root and elbow grease is recommended, but it brews up easily and the grog is a nice cloudly colloidal suspension with very little settling.
Definitely a fantastic Fijian, and quite different than many varieties of kava I've tried. Very heady! I can see drinking this before or during a night on the town.
Highly recommended as a daytime/weekend day kava or for any time warmth and relaxation combined with lucidity and inner-ear stability is desirable.
It's not a super-strong kava, so more root and elbow grease is recommended, but it brews up easily and the grog is a nice cloudly colloidal suspension with very little settling.
Definitely a fantastic Fijian, and quite different than many varieties of kava I've tried. Very heady! I can see drinking this before or during a night on the town.
Highly recommended as a daytime/weekend day kava or for any time warmth and relaxation combined with lucidity and inner-ear stability is desirable.
Second Day Effects
By way of follow-up: The next morning I arose early (and easily) and had a lot of early Sunday preparations to make for Easter, so I was quite busy all morning and had no trouble/lethargy/sleepiness to battle with. So very "clean" on the system without a lot of residual effect the next day.
Last edited:
