An Idea to for preparing Kava?

[kl.Buckeye.dropout50394]

Hello.  I noticed on the Kava by Rex site, he says that it is useless to soak the Kava in water when preparing because the Kavalactoids are not water soluble; they are extracted through massage.  I soak anyway so the lecithin can bind to it.  But if this is true, wouldn't it be a better idea to massage the Kava in a cotton muslin bag, and then screen some powder in your drink through nylon?  When you are massaging in nylon, half the powder is already in your drink, and doesn't even get massaged.

 

[Vekta]

Some Kava is ground thick and a little chunky so soaking it can make the fibers a little softer. Once it's good and soaked it's more like a sponge so when you squeeze it a lot more comes out. Some kava is ground really really fine and squeezing a handful of it can dump a ton of kava particles in the water. Some kava is ground fine enough that you might be able to get away with doing the tea bag dunk but I've never tested it.



This has been my observation anyways.



When I make something like chief jungle or Mahakea I usually let it soak since it's ground a little course. (well Chief Jungle is almost like saw dust and wood chips) If I'm making Tongan I just throw it in the water and give it a good squeeze for about 5 minutes and you're good. You can keep squeezing for 10-15 minutes and still get 2 or 3 more good bowls out of 2 tbsp.



A few of us don't use lecithin anymore. I'm one of them. I find that squeezing and massaging the kava really good has done more than lecithin ever did for me.

 

[kl.Buckeye.dropout50394]

But of course!  It is soaked to make it like a sponge.  As I understand it, the real purpose of squeezing would be to get the oils and Resins out.   That's why the bag is dry rather than slick feeling when done.  The main thing I was wondering, though, is why coarse nylon strainers are so popular.  With a very fine kava powder, half of the Kava might not even get squeezed, as you noted.  How would that affect your final product?