I'm brand new and a pound of this and a pound of Isa/Tudei was my first kava purchase*. I used Rex's recommended prep method, with ratios that were slightly different (1.5 liters of water to 90g of powder, so it's somewhat stronger than the 1 gallon ratios). Buuuut I'm working through the whole tolerance thing. Last night's prep had a bit of an effect. This afternoon's had a bit more, I do feel pretty good at the moment, about 50 minutes after my last four ounce portion. I'll see what happens with it over the next few days. If it keeps progressing, I will be most happy to never look at a bottle of Tito's again. If nothing else it'll provide data on how this is for a first time user.
*My rationale being: get one from each end of the mind/body spectrum for, you know, science.
UPDATE: I just had a side-splitting laughing jag about nothing in particular (which is actually
quite therapeutic) and it's been quite awhile since I've done that, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this stuff is all right.