It's been a long time coming, but I finally ordered a case of the candies from Ozia. It's been on my to-do list for a while, as I was really curious about the possibility of discreet on-the-go kava dosing when anxiety strikes. I was NOT disappointed. In short, Ozia's Kava Kava Candy really delivers exactly what you want.
Preparation and Taste
Preparation and Taste
Preparation? Well, just make sure you have a sheet of these candies (8 candies to a sheet) available when in any situation where stress reduction and anxiety relief is likely to be necessary. For me, this includes work, family outings with the extended family and new/unfamiliar situations where I'm at all nervous going in.
When I ate my first candy, I could smell the telltale notes of kava as I brought the candy to my mouth. It smelled like kava extract, but not overpoweringly so. Also smells of orange and sweetness. In the mouth, there's a simple sweetness and sourness that reminded me a bit of acerola vitamin C chewables. The candy is a pressed powder candy and not a molded liquid as you'd get from boiled sugar in water. It doesn't disintegrate in the mouth, however, and hangs together as a little slowly dissolving wheel of sweetness, sourness and numbness. The numbness is almost immediate though never reaches novocaine/dental levels. Similar to letting a strong shell languish in your mouth before chasing or rinsing. Mostly numbness of the tongue but after chaining a few candies, I got some numbness in the throat as well.
I wish there were a sorbitol-free sugar or stevia based version of this candy. The sorbitol sweetness is a "shallow" sweetness, with superficial sweetness and not the depth of sweetness that cane sugar would impart. The sweetness and sourness of the candy masks the kava extract flavor nicely, though there's a bitterness as well which I would expect from anything kava related and it doesn't bother me at all. Quite the contrary. I'm happy to taste the bitter bite of kavalactones as it tells me that 1) it's strong, and 2) it's the real deal.
Onset and EffectsWhen I ate my first candy, I could smell the telltale notes of kava as I brought the candy to my mouth. It smelled like kava extract, but not overpoweringly so. Also smells of orange and sweetness. In the mouth, there's a simple sweetness and sourness that reminded me a bit of acerola vitamin C chewables. The candy is a pressed powder candy and not a molded liquid as you'd get from boiled sugar in water. It doesn't disintegrate in the mouth, however, and hangs together as a little slowly dissolving wheel of sweetness, sourness and numbness. The numbness is almost immediate though never reaches novocaine/dental levels. Similar to letting a strong shell languish in your mouth before chasing or rinsing. Mostly numbness of the tongue but after chaining a few candies, I got some numbness in the throat as well.
I wish there were a sorbitol-free sugar or stevia based version of this candy. The sorbitol sweetness is a "shallow" sweetness, with superficial sweetness and not the depth of sweetness that cane sugar would impart. The sweetness and sourness of the candy masks the kava extract flavor nicely, though there's a bitterness as well which I would expect from anything kava related and it doesn't bother me at all. Quite the contrary. I'm happy to taste the bitter bite of kavalactones as it tells me that 1) it's strong, and 2) it's the real deal.
Onset of kava effects came to me after my 2nd candy, with efficacy for stress relief after my 3rd. I let them fully dissolve without biting them (as tempting as that was) and then chained the next candy. I noticed a mood shift after putting the third one in my mouth, at about the 15 minute mark. This was very welcome, as I was having a very stressful and difficult day at work amidst a depression that's been plaguing me for about three weeks. As I put the fourth in my mouth, my mood shift was already complete and I no longer felt the racing anxious feelings and my negative ruminative cycle slowly receded into the background. I'd been negatively ruminating hard all day to that point. After four candies, I could have stopped and been completely satisfied with the stress reduction and anxiety relief, though I continued eating them. For science.
I continued to eat candies until I was through a whole sleeve (8 candies) and into the next sleeve. After 10 candies back to back I had the full-on effects of a mild kava session. I'd compare it to 4 shells of weakly mixed Fijian which I enjoy as a weeknight session here and there. It would take many candies to reach krunkness, but I don't think that's what these candies are for at all. They were so effective at changing my mood and mindset after 4 candies that in the future, I will probably stop right there. Additional candies brought diminishing returns compared to the first half sleeve (4).
After an hour or two break from the candies, I continued to eat another whole sleeve that night while lying in bed watching Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" (great show) and was blissfully relaxed as I took in his trevails in far-flung territories such as Cuzco Peru, Tangier and Congo.
WARNING: graphic depiction of stomach upset and bathroom effects in the next paragraph. Skip if you don't like to hear about such things.
With my wussie digestive system, the sugar alcohol did a number on me. The next morning, I was struck with some serious diarrhea... something that I never get much any more thanks to lots of fiber that I take daily (6 psyillium capsules per day). Granted, I'd eaten 18 candies the previous day, starting at about 4pm and going until around 11. This is A LOT of candies, but I really wanted to push it as far as I could on my first outing, after noting the kava effects all along the way. I was shooting water out of my ass at high velocity the next morning, and continued to poop liquid most of the next day. Sorbitol, Xylitol, Mannitol and other sugar alcohols tell my colon: "EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL!" and this was no exception. I definitely overdid it with the candies, but I knew that going in and it was intentional. I will not eat so many in one outing again.
Conclusions and Final ThoughtsI continued to eat candies until I was through a whole sleeve (8 candies) and into the next sleeve. After 10 candies back to back I had the full-on effects of a mild kava session. I'd compare it to 4 shells of weakly mixed Fijian which I enjoy as a weeknight session here and there. It would take many candies to reach krunkness, but I don't think that's what these candies are for at all. They were so effective at changing my mood and mindset after 4 candies that in the future, I will probably stop right there. Additional candies brought diminishing returns compared to the first half sleeve (4).
After an hour or two break from the candies, I continued to eat another whole sleeve that night while lying in bed watching Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" (great show) and was blissfully relaxed as I took in his trevails in far-flung territories such as Cuzco Peru, Tangier and Congo.
WARNING: graphic depiction of stomach upset and bathroom effects in the next paragraph. Skip if you don't like to hear about such things.
With my wussie digestive system, the sugar alcohol did a number on me. The next morning, I was struck with some serious diarrhea... something that I never get much any more thanks to lots of fiber that I take daily (6 psyillium capsules per day). Granted, I'd eaten 18 candies the previous day, starting at about 4pm and going until around 11. This is A LOT of candies, but I really wanted to push it as far as I could on my first outing, after noting the kava effects all along the way. I was shooting water out of my ass at high velocity the next morning, and continued to poop liquid most of the next day. Sorbitol, Xylitol, Mannitol and other sugar alcohols tell my colon: "EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL!" and this was no exception. I definitely overdid it with the candies, but I knew that going in and it was intentional. I will not eat so many in one outing again.
I am incredibly thankful that Ozia's Kava Kava Candy exists. Now that I have some, this will become a very useful and helpful part of my life. I will not be without these candies ever. Until the heat death of the solar system. The phenomenal shift in mood during an extremely hard day (nervous pacing, fingers through the hair, feeling on the edge of tears, feelings of being overwhelmed, hopelessness, etc.) after four candies was incredibly welcome. After four candies, I'd settled back down into my center and the anxious tension was dissolving. Had I stopped there, I'd have been just fine. All of the sharp, stabbing, painful edges in my cyclical thought patterns were nicely sanded down and muted. I was able to re-engage with my work and actually enjoy it. I was not cognitively impaired in the least.
If your stomach has no problem with sugar alcohols, I can recommend Kava Kava Candy with no reservations. If you're sensitive to sugar-free sweeteners then you will want to go easy and not eat 18 candies in the same 24 hour period. Trust me. I will definitely not do that again.
There are 12 sleeves of 8 candies in a case. I consider 4 candies to be a "dose" for me, so a case contains 24 doses, or roughly $1/dose which is completely reasonable considering the substantial anxiolytic benefits I got. This is the real deal, folks, and it works. Very very well.
To Ozia: I would love a cane sugar version of this product! It would definitely be easier on my system and would taste better to boot. Ascorbic acid might be a good addition as well, since vitamin C is sour too and also is, you know, a vitamin. I would also enjoy a lime version of this product, as lime is my favorite citrus flavor and the acidity of lime juice should work well with the flavor-masking too.
Thank you for this excellent product! I'm so happy to have this in my kava quiver.
Next Day and Morning After EffectsIf your stomach has no problem with sugar alcohols, I can recommend Kava Kava Candy with no reservations. If you're sensitive to sugar-free sweeteners then you will want to go easy and not eat 18 candies in the same 24 hour period. Trust me. I will definitely not do that again.
There are 12 sleeves of 8 candies in a case. I consider 4 candies to be a "dose" for me, so a case contains 24 doses, or roughly $1/dose which is completely reasonable considering the substantial anxiolytic benefits I got. This is the real deal, folks, and it works. Very very well.
To Ozia: I would love a cane sugar version of this product! It would definitely be easier on my system and would taste better to boot. Ascorbic acid might be a good addition as well, since vitamin C is sour too and also is, you know, a vitamin. I would also enjoy a lime version of this product, as lime is my favorite citrus flavor and the acidity of lime juice should work well with the flavor-masking too.
Thank you for this excellent product! I'm so happy to have this in my kava quiver.
As mentioned above, with my weak and easily-irritated digestive system and overindulgence in candies (18 in 6 hours) I had terrible diarrhea. At more moderate doses and for most of the general population, there should be no issues. If you can chew 4 pieces of Dentyne back to back without gut effects, this candy should present no problems.
Being a kava lite weight and a cheapskate are a nice combination. 
