BKH Green

[Steve973]

Hi all.  I know that I'm not the first person here to review BKH's Vanuatu Instant Green Kava, but I wanted to share my experiences.  Judd nicely sent me a sample, and it arrived a few days ago.  I have never seen any sort of instant kava before, and this stuff is surprisingly powdery and fine.  It is a dusty green color and it doesn't smell super strong or anything.  Actually, it smells fresh if that makes sense when we're talking about a dried kava powder.  I had heard horror stories about how instant kava tastes, but this stuff is super mild.  In fact, it was the most mild tasting kava I have ever tried, hands down.  And the next-mildest kava tastes WAY stronger.  So far, I have tried this in orange juice and in plain water (and I actually prefer drinking it in water).  If anyone is sensitive to the taste of kava, or if they are new to the whole thing, this would be perfect for someone like that.

Sometimes I don't feel super great before kava starts working and mellowing me out because I have suffered through drinking something strong/bitter.  With this stuff, I don't really even feel like I drank anything bitter because it was that pleasant and easy to get down.  It is pretty fast-acting, and I would categorize this as a mild and gentle kava in terms of effects.  Of course, it is all too easy to drink a little more for some extra relaxation.  At this very moment, I am drinking my second mixture of it for the night, since my 50g order came today also.  I think it would be pretty accurate to describe it as "the green tea of kava". 

Bula Kava House is *always* impressive.  They have some of the best prices and some of the best kava around.  Keep up the awesome work, Judd!  By the way, are you considering carrying any fresh frozen kava that you'll sell on your web store?

 

[kavalover]

Awesome, the more reviews we have around here the better I think!



I'm wanting to give this stuff a shot, even though I've never been a fan of instant kava.

 

[Steve973]

What turns you off about instant kava? This is the only kind I have tried and I liked it.

 

[kavalover]

The extreme variation in potency has always turned me off of instant kavas. Which is true for dried root powder as well but nowhere near the extent of instants in my experience.



Other than that I have no problem with instant kava, I just can't drink it too much ;D

 

[kl.homobonobo]

I just mixed up my first dose of the BKH green, and about 30 minutes later I'm very pleased! I feel great. I find it hard to describe my different kava experiences, but this is the kind that is my favorite: it's heady, is great for mood, and without too much heavy-limb feeling, just a hint of muscle relaxation. It started kicking in after just 10 min or so, maybe sooner.



I mixed it with a lime-pomegranate juice and it was quite tasty I thought, although I seem far less bothered by the taste of kava than anyone else I've given it to.



I'm going to go mix myself one more glass, I think...

 

[Steve973]

Yes, it is absolutely effortless to drink. It has a light and grassy green tea flavor, sort of, and it isn't bitter.

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

Thumbs up, this stuff is awesome.

 

[kl.kavanah]

About how many servings are in the 100 gram tin?

 

[kl.Jerome]

I used to love chewing kava rootlets and also enjoyed keeping the powedered kava under my tongue.  Kava is absorbed through the mouth very quickly and has a nice effect before you even swallow it.  I was wondering if anyone had tried this with the instant?  It seems to me that the fine, concentrated dose of instant kava would absorb quite nicely sublingually.  Let me know if anyone tries this.  Thanks much!

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

About how many servings are in the 100 gram tin?

This is a very rough guess, but it has to be less than 10 g per serving, since that is what it would be for the density of water, don't know about the density of the powder and don't have a scale to check.  So that would make it at least 10 servings.  Although I found that 2 servings were necessary to get crunked but YMMV

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

Went to chill with a friend for a couple hours yesterday for his birthday and made a few batches worth of the BKH green about 5-6 shells worth each I would guesstimate. Then we watched some dubstep videos mostly Chibi (Bryan Gaynor) and Remote Kontrol crew. It was extremely chill, also a much better experience drinking kava with someone else who is drinking kava, it got us talking about some topics we might not have discussed otherwise, all and all a great afternoon. Next time he has a party at his house I'd love to make a big batch there are other psychonauts in that circle of friends, it's great to find an ethnobotanical that is much more accessible, at least if you can get past the taste, which is really not bad with green. Using my method of shaking in a jar and adding a little (probably superfluous) lecithin and using 1/2 coconut water, it got a very nice frothy head on it that was actually quite pleasant, like beer or an egg cream, it was not soapy.

 

[kl.homobonobo]

I went to a taco/margarita night with some friends recently, and I was the designated driver, so I brought along my tin of Green in my pocket. I ordered an horchata and mixed up 3tsp in it. It was delicious! Great taste combination.  I was having just as much fun as my drinking cohorts, and was perfectly fine to drive when we left. Good times.

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

I love horchata, but it's never as good when I make it myself. Plus I worry about the cocoa that's in it as chocolate tends to give me migraines.

 

[kl.dbairduk]

Great post comparing the dosing Gray Owl. This will help me for sure when ordering.



I am holding off my BKH order until this is back in stock. Anyone know how much it usually is?

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

Great post comparing the dosing Gray Owl. This will help me for sure when ordering.



I am holding off my BKH order until this is back in stock. Anyone know how much it usually is?

When I ordered it was $38 USD for 100 g BKH Green plus $6 USD shipping, arrived the same week that I ordered I think 3 days later.  Since I'm getting a pound of powdered root for $37-38 that seems quite fair to me.  Extended to 125 g at $0.38 per gram, that comes out to $47.50, factor in the $6 shipping and it's a bit more expensive than N@H Fire Island but quite a bit cheaper than N@H Shaman which is $75 USD for 125 g.  I think it's at least as potent as Shaman and I really like the taste, not sure yet how it compares to Fire Island, which I should be receiving some in the mail any day now.

 

[kl.dbairduk]

I found the island kava hawaii mahakea quite nice with a mild flavour, its about $79 for 250g with free shipping. I have seen on here that they issue discount vouchers occasionally though.

N@H is out the question for me at the moment as the shipping price to europe is over $50. BKH is more like $16 shipping, and will be the next place I order from. I want to compare the BKH green to the mahakea from island kava.



I think instants will play a big part in my kava drinking as I only get an hour between getting home to eating. I will probably then make some root during the time it takes to digest my meal.

 

[kl.Gray Owl]

For what it's worth N@H Fire Island is also about 3 g per teaspoon and it's milder than BKH Green, I suspect that it's a high kavain kava.