Beginner looking for some first time suggestions

[kl.apzzy]

Hello Friends,

I've been reading about Kava for awhile now and finally decided that I should break down and try this awesome stuff out. I've read a lot of reviews but there is just an overwhelming amount of information out there. I'm looking for something relatively strong but still suitable for a newbie. I've sampled a variety of other "substances" so I think I'm well prepared mentally for some of the stronger effects of Kava. I'd rather jump right in and see what this is all about rather than starting of with something "mild."

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Vekta]

Kava isn't going to be anything like whatever other substance you've tried in the past. You're not going to go on any kind of trip unless you drink a ton of something really strong. Even then you'll probably just fall asleep.

Borogu kava from Vanuatu is a classic standard. It's a decent starting point. Most places don't list it as "Borogu". Nakamal@Home for example lists it as "Black Sand" kava. (I think) Anything from Vanuatu though is a good start. Most of the vendors selling kava will have a Vanuatu kava for sale.

 

[kl.apzzy]

Yeah I don't expect to trip or anything, just want something relatively strong so I can get a good feel of the effects. Thanks for the suggestion. I've seen a lot of talk about Nakamal@Home, is that considered one of the better vendors?

 

[Vekta]

They're a well established vendor.They have very good customer service, decent prices, a good selection, good quality kava. Some of the other vendor web sights aren't as user friendly as N@H's websight. There isn't too much difference but for someone who is just getting into kava and doesn't exactly know what they want or what they're looking for I can see how some of them might look a little confusing.

N@H has an all around good shopper experience and there web site basically presents  it to you on a silver platter.

 

[kl.apzzy]

Ok, well I'm about to order something from them. Should I look into maybe buying some extract or pills first to get a head start on my "Kava glands?"

 

[Bula Kava House]

store.bulakavahouse.com. We have Borogu from Vanuatu, listed as Borogu. The price is hard to beat ($54/kilo). Website is simple, attractive, and easy. Whatever you try, Enjoy and welcome to the world of kava drinking.

 

[Vekta]

Ok, well I'm about to order something from them. Should I look into maybe buying some extract or pills first to get a head start on my "Kava glands?"

Honestly, I'd second Judd's invite to buy from BHK. There web sight is also done very nicely and very beginner friendly. Things will be easy to find and browse through. I haven't read too much good about Kava pills. The only extract that I've read good things about is Paradise Kava's CO2 extract.

But anyways, give Judd's root a try. We need more user reviews of his stuff anyways.

 

[kl.apzzy]

store.bulakavahouse.com. We have Borogu from Vanuatu, listed as Borogu. The price is hard to beat ($54/kilo). Website is simple, attractive, and easy. Whatever you try, Enjoy and welcome to the world of kava drinking.

Ok, just placed an order for your Borogu. Looking forward to giving it a try! Thanks

 

[kl.apzzy]

Shipping was definitely speedy. Ordered Monday night and its being delivered today. Now I have to find a good recipe.

 

[Bula Kava House]

apzzy, There should be preparation instructions on the back of the bag. Follow those to make a stiff brew. If you want to follow all the optional steps listed to make a stronger drink you could maybe use less kava to water than is listed. Enjoy!

 

[kl.apzzy]

I wrote up a good review but it didn't post and I lost it



Anyways...I ordered Borogu from Judd here and gave it a try last night for my first Kava experience.





I used 1 cup of Kava root and a little more than 3 cups of water. I let the kava soak in warm tap water for about 40 minutes then put it in the blender for 30 seconds. I think i was overly cautious about the hot water and could have made it even hotter. After blending I poured into another bowl and strained it with some cheesecloth from walmart. I wouldn't recommend their cheesecloth. It was very thin and by the time I was done it was starting to rip. I poured a little less than 1 cup into a glass, added a few ice cubes for about 5 minutes to cool it down then chugged the whole thing.



The taste wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. From reading on here I was worried about getting this stuff down because I don't have a high tolerance for unpleasant tastes. The taste definitely wasn't good but it was fairly mild and after a swig of orange soda to chase I didn't even notice it. More experienced users would probably enjoy such a mild flavor.



Within a few minutes I noticed my tongue and gums where feeling quite funny. I remember running my tongue across my teeth and gums for awhile. About 5 minutes later I started feeling euphoric and had a generally sense of well being. Another 5 minutes passed and I really began to feel the effects. I felt totally relaxed and almost giddy, finding everything funny. I felt as if my legs and body were drunk but my mind was still very sharp. I was playing some music and wrote in my notepad "this feels awesome."



Unfortunately a friend of mine called in desperate need of computer help. This took a couple hours to help walk him through the problems he was having and was very frustrating that I couldn't enjoy the experience fully. I had 2 more shells throughout the night and the effects where definitely stronger with each dose but couldn't fully be enjoyed and were probably almost ruined by having to be on the phone.



I'm going to give it another try tonight and hopefully I can fully enjoy my kava tonight instead of being bothered. I do have to say that I slept great last night.



I'll post another review tomorrow, but I was definitely impressed by my first time and can't wait for tonight.

 

[kl.ComfortablyNumb]

Well for what it's worth, I also use a warm-to-hot-water extraction & let it soak but don't use a blender. Never have. It all comes down to separating the oil resins from the fibre-- strictly old-school method of manually squeezing and squeezing and squeezing the hell out of it! LOL (You can't go wrong.)

Ditto on the classic Borogu-uatu. The first awa I ever tried was Hawaiian Mahakea426. And I also happen to know it would be great for a first-timmer. Any Hawaiian cultivars would be choice! 

I've found with various chemo-types, the key for the various kavalactones: the 2 most popular (Hawaiian & Vanuatu) chemotypes example is --462351 & 426135-- have dihydrokavain, kavain & methysticin as the first three lactones. It would have the highest #4 (Kavain; considered the most euphoriant kavalactone) and the lowest #1 (Demethoxy-yangonin (DMY). Kavain (hi-% desirable) is most quickly absorbed & its relaxant/anti-depressant effect goes most quickly to mind/body; numbing. Others like Isa is high in Methysticin is noted as “Slow; Sleepiness, muscle relaxant.” (and nausea) 

Get krunked!

 

[kl.ExtremeG]

Hello everyone, I'm another newbie here. I'm interested into getting into the world of kava kava. I decided to get 500 grams of Stone Kava & 250 grams of WOW kava from that nakamalone site. Let me first say that I one of those folks that benefit kava thru the "reverse tolerance" phenomenon only. Like yesterday, 3 tablespoons of stone kava didn't do much. but tonight 3 tablespoons gave me nice warm pleasant chilled out feeling. So I know it gets better each night. Just curious if I could go far with nightly kava ritual? I've been reading several of Vetka's posts and seems like he's been taking for quite long time and looks promising. looking forward to it! Also, is strain swamping essential too? I also have a kava sampler possibly coming my way too. so i got a little to play with. any feedback would b awesome! thanks!!

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

As a newbie I believe I am going through the same process of "Reverse Tolerance" at least that is what it seems. I've been only using instants which is from what I know never as potent as some of the good stuff you definitely got. The first day I went through quite a bit of instant using nearly all of the 15gram samples I got for free with my order which is quite a lot, I would say over 10 tablespoons or so. It was spread throughout the day, but the effects were very mild at best and at times felt like nothing at all.



Its been about 2 days since then and I've now only been taking 2 tablespoons per bottle of water and the effects are getting very good. It feels like every time I shotgun a bottle of water the effects are becoming more pronounced. This morning before I went to pick up my girlfriend I drank a bottle before I got into the car and it was the first time I felt any euphoria while drinking Kava. It felt great to just drive down the road with the sun beaming overhead. Its hard to explain how it felt, but I know it was there and wasn't just in my head. It was to much of a good thing for me to have just tricked myself into thinking that. It only lasted an hour after drinking the bottle, I made sure to time it once I knew I felt it hit me because I've been wanting to get a rough estimate of how long it would last. It wasn't long, but it was great and I'm hoping the more I venture into Kava the more easier it'll become to get that nice feeling.



In the end I hope to be able to take just 1tsp and feel good about it. I'm having some pretty good results with instant, yours should be even better the more you try!



Not sure about straining as I have not tried the regular stuff yet hopefully someone else will chime in about that.

 

[kl.ExtremeG]

Thanks for the feedback, Boredomkillz... I have seemed to come into bit of a problem this morning. Last night I slept like a baby, but this morning I have this yucky hangover and i'm not liking it at all. It feels like, well, hangover withs some naseua,wobbly eye, sweaty, heavy feeling. Is this because I took to much last night? I want to continue my venture with Kava, but I don't the mornings to feel like this. Maybe i should just take 1 tablespoon tonight and then consistently thru the week until i start getting the good benefits with less hangover?? do u guys think that's the best way to approach this? any advice would b helpful much.  

thanks

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Hmmmm as far as I know with instants I've only dealt with slight nausea and it was because I drank the Kava without eating for to long (I know they say its better on an empty stomach, but I've had no problem with eating then drinking some an hour later). The Nausea is pretty much gone now and I just feel the good stuff. As far as how I wake up in the morning I've noticed I've felt a little groggier, but not to the point where I don't want to wake up or feel like I'm having a hangover. Its actually pretty refreshing and easy to get through, its like waking up from a really good deep sleep. Ever since I started drinking Kava it has been so easy to fall asleep its nearly instantaneous and it just feels great to lie down with your eyes closed.



From what I've read it seems that depending on the person different Kavas can affect people differently. What might sit well with one person might not sit well with another. I've also read that the particular brands of Kava you've chosen can be very potent at least I'm sure the WOW is very potent. Perhaps it is just to strong for you to handle now. Have you been feeling the same way with each of the types you have? Or is it one particular one? Perhaps a mixture? If your mixing them together you should try and take one type a certain day and another the next and record how you feel. It could very well be that its just to strong for you and you need to warm up to it. I've read accounts on this forum where a particular Kava didn't even work then upon returning to it a week or so later it worked amazingly.



With Kava I've learned it really is trial and error. I'm experimenting with 3 different instant Powder and dislike one particular one only because if I take it with not enough food in my stomach I start to get nauseous. I've been working on different amounts and mixtures with the other 2 instants though and have found that its better when its mixed with another and have since fixed that nauseous problem.



I would recommend to start slow, keep a journal and write down how you feel and the times you start and when things end so you can go over it and see what works for you. You might come onto the perfect recipe in that way.

 

[kl.ExtremeG]

you're right. perhaps the Stone Kava and Wow Kava are too strong for me. I originally would have love to save them as an occasional treat for special social situations; however, reverse tolerance makes that out of the question.. Here's what I've had in mind (and i know few others have mentioned this while i scimmed thru the lounge last night), I'm thinking about taking some run-over-the mill cheap kava powdered root to be taken everynight (this way i build up the reverse tolerance thing), and then save the strong strains like stone and wow for the special occasions - would that workout for me? Not sure if Kava is strain specific with reverse tolerance? Hmm, maybe i need like a sampler pack i could buy some where with various different strains. I really need to experiment. Kava's great when i get the good effects. but it's going to take work for me to get where i want which i have no problem with. just hope im doing things right. thanks

 

[kl.ExtremeG]

I'm having 10 grams of Vandutu 'Instant' Wake Grade right now. hoping that's not too much? should b good? thanks!