drifter308
Kava Curious
First of all I'd like to thank Chris over at Gourmet Hawaiian Kava, after talking to him on the forum in addition to the 1lb bag of Mahakea I ordered he included a good sized sample of micronized Nene, which I will try after I have a strong palate memory for the taste and effects of the Mahakea. I'm going to do a full review tomorrow or the next day after I've had a few days to sort the experience out, this is just my first impression. The reason I'm giving it a few days for a full review is because I spent all last week drinking nothing but Stone, from Nakamal at Home, and I think this might have left a bias that would affect an objective analysis (but for reference, I'll definitely be buying more Stone in the near future {^_^}.)
Method: 5 heaping tablespoons in the magic bullet with 1/4 cup coconut milk and 2 cups of water I nuked to boiling then let cool for 1 minute, blended in 30 second intervals for 90 seconds total, then strained with a nylon strainer.
Taste and Effects: The taste is pretty mild and pleasant compared to the Stone, or Kalm's Borongoru, but the yellow staining on my strainer bag and magic bullet cup attest to the extremely high kavalactone content. As for the effects, the word balanced gets thrown around with this variety for a good reason, for me this seems like a pretty good daytime kava. Nice all around mild euphoric buzz.
**The next Morning: The major advantage I've seen so far over other varieties I've tried isn't in its potency but in the fact that it wasn't very diuretic (yay, no frequent trips to the bathroom) and thus I didn't get a kava hangover. In fact I'm getting a pleasant shield effect and I feel pretty damned good.
Initial Verdict: Like I said, after getting kicked in the face for a week with the Stone, I'm going to give this a few more days and alternate between day and night to try and give a more objective review of the potency ( I have the feeling that most varieties would feel a little weaker than they actually are right now) but so far I'm loving the next day effects enough to want to keep this in my pantry. I'll definitely be trying out that micronized nene that Chris was kind enough to include in a few days, and based on this experience I'll probably try Moi sometime in the near future, but for right now I think my go-to lineup is going to be Mahakea during the week and NAH's Stone on the weekend when I don't have to be anywhere.
Method: 5 heaping tablespoons in the magic bullet with 1/4 cup coconut milk and 2 cups of water I nuked to boiling then let cool for 1 minute, blended in 30 second intervals for 90 seconds total, then strained with a nylon strainer.
Taste and Effects: The taste is pretty mild and pleasant compared to the Stone, or Kalm's Borongoru, but the yellow staining on my strainer bag and magic bullet cup attest to the extremely high kavalactone content. As for the effects, the word balanced gets thrown around with this variety for a good reason, for me this seems like a pretty good daytime kava. Nice all around mild euphoric buzz.
**The next Morning: The major advantage I've seen so far over other varieties I've tried isn't in its potency but in the fact that it wasn't very diuretic (yay, no frequent trips to the bathroom) and thus I didn't get a kava hangover. In fact I'm getting a pleasant shield effect and I feel pretty damned good.
Initial Verdict: Like I said, after getting kicked in the face for a week with the Stone, I'm going to give this a few more days and alternate between day and night to try and give a more objective review of the potency ( I have the feeling that most varieties would feel a little weaker than they actually are right now) but so far I'm loving the next day effects enough to want to keep this in my pantry. I'll definitely be trying out that micronized nene that Chris was kind enough to include in a few days, and based on this experience I'll probably try Moi sometime in the near future, but for right now I think my go-to lineup is going to be Mahakea during the week and NAH's Stone on the weekend when I don't have to be anywhere.
