Kava Preparation DIY coconut-kava "paste"

[verticity]

So I tried this... it's sitting in the refrigerator and still hasn't separated. I'm thinking maybe I blended it too much and formed a stable emulsion. We'll see how it does over night.

But in general, this will create a lipid extract, and every extract I have tried has not been as potent as actual root. Something is lost in the water phase, probably. Now I suppose you could let the makas settle to the bottom of the water, and then decant the water on top, and drink the water..

 

[TheKavaSociety]

So I tried this... it's sitting in the refrigerator and still hasn't separated. I'm thinking maybe I blended it too much and formed a stable emulsion. We'll see how it does over night.

But in general, this will create a lipid extract, and every extract I have tried has not been as potent as actual root. Something is lost in the water phase, probably. Now I suppose you could let the makas settle to the bottom of the water, and then decant the water on top, and drink the water..

I agree that this probably won't be as strong as properly strained/kneaded root, BUT I think that the point of making this coconut paste to create a more pleasant, easier to store and more convenient form of kava.

 

[verticity]

Success!

My first attempt with blender, water and coconut oil turned into a gloopy mess that never separated. So it occurred me, if I'm making a coconut oil extract why do I need water? Well I don't. So here is my method:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 US cup (60 mL) coconut oil (Mine is "refined" but it probably doesn't matter if you use "unrefined")
  
• 1/4 US cup (60 mL) kava medium grind powder (I used KWK Borogu)
• A microwave-safe dish
• A kava strainer (I used one of the nice 70 micron nylon ones I got from Cactus Kava)
• A small Tupperware-or-equivalent container
• A meat thermometer
  
• A refrigerator (You can buy one from @Kapmcrunk if you don't have one)

Instructions:

1. Place the coconut oil in the microwave-safe dish
   
2. If the coconut oil is solid, heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds to melt it. It should be a clear-ish liquid with no unmelted white chunks.
3. Mix the kava powder in with the coconut oil. Mix thouroughly. It should be more liquidy than solidy.
4. Heat the mixture to 150 F (65 C) in the microwave. To do this microwave it for about 15 seconds at a time, mix, and check the temperature with the meat thermometer, until it reaches the desired temperature. Don't leave the meat thermomer in the dish when it is in the microwave!! (It might be possible to use higher temperatures for greater extraction, but this is what I used. You don't want the oil so hot that it chemically alters the kavalactones, which is possible because oil can get a lot hotter than water. Probably the absolute maximum temperature would be less than the boiling point of water.)
5. Set the dish aside for 45 minutes or so to allow it to cool to about 80 F (27 C). You want the oil to be closer to room temperature, but still liquid.
6. Strain the mixture through the strainer into the Tupperware container. Squeeze as much of the oil out as you can. Mail the oily makas remaining in the strainer to @shakas. Wash the strainer with soap to remove oily residue.
7. Seal the container with the extract and refrigerate until it solidifies.

I'll post some pictures in a minute.

I just tried about a quarter teaspoon of it, and it has a very mild kava taste, and slight numbing feeling. Effects are overpowered by the real kava I am drinking so I don't know if that tiny amount actually had any effect. I tend to not be very sensitive to extract anyway..

 

[verticity]

Here are some pictures of the solidified coconut oil kava extract:

With a US 1/4 teaspoon

Let's get a good look at that spoon:

Zoom, Enhance:

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Wow! Well done

Good idea not to use any water. However, I guess the downside is that you have to strain it and I bet it's a bit messy. When you add water and all the conditions are right, then (in theory) you should get a nice, floating layer of coconut-kava oil on top of your tube/container. But perhaps your method actually means better extraction?

 

[verticity]

Wow! Well done

Good idea not to use any water. However, I guess the downside is that you have to strain it and I bet it's a bit messy. When you add water and all the conditions are right, then (in theory) you should get a nice, floating layer of coconut-kava oil on top of your tube/container. But perhaps your method actually means better extraction?

I believe you would get better extraction this way. It is basically the same principle as extracting with a solvent like alcohol, but instead using healthy coconut oil.
The straining is slightly... well it is oil, so you are straining a little bit of oil to separate it from solid. You don't need to knead it or anything, just sqeeze the strainer a bit to get the oil out. It's not really messy compared to many other cooking procedures I do in my kitchen. And if you clean the strainer with soap it removes the oil, so you can still use the strainer again.

 

[Kimmer]

Success!


Instructions:

1. Place the coconut oil in the microwave-safe dish
   
2. If the coconut oil is solid, heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds to melt it. It should be a clear-ish liquid with no unmelted white chunks.
3. Mix the kava powder in with the coconut oil. Mix thouroughly. It should be more liquidy than solidy.
4. Heat the mixture to 150 F (65 C) in the microwave. To do this microwave it for about 15 seconds at a time, mix, and check the temperature with the meat thermometer, until it reaches the desired temperature. Don't leave the meat thermomer in the dish when it is in the microwave!! (It might be possible to use higher temperatures for greater extraction, but this is what I used. You don't want the oil so hot that it chemically alters the kavalactones, which is possible because oil can get a lot hotter than water. Probably the absolute maximum temperature would be less than the boiling point of water.)
5. Set the dish aside for 45 minutes or so to allow it to cool to about 80 F (27 C). You want the oil to be closer to room temperature, but still liquid.
6. Strain the mixture through the strainer into the Tupperware container. Squeeze as much of the oil out as you can. Mail the oily makas remaining in the strainer to @shakas. Wash the strainer with soap to remove oily residue.
7. Seal the container with the extract and refrigerate until it solidifies.

I'll post some pictures in a minute.

I just tried about a quarter teaspoon of it, and it has a very mild kava taste, and slight numbing feeling. Effects are overpowered by the real kava I am drinking so I don't know if that tiny amount actually had any effect. I tend to not be very sensitive to extract anyway..

So did you still use the blender or did you knead? (apologies if this is a dense post). I have some coconut cream in the fridge (and some coconut oil) but I might try this with the cream since it appears to be damn solid.

 

[verticity]

So did you still use the blender or did you knead? (apologies if this is a dense post). I have some coconut cream in the fridge (and some coconut oil) but I might try this with the cream since it appears to be damn solid.

I did not use a blender nor knead. For agitation I stirred with a spoon.

I would not recommend using coconut cream, because that is a mixture of I don't know exactly what that includes water. Coconut oil is a pure lipid, with no water in it---it will work better as a "solvent" I think.

 

[verticity]

Cuz remember how kavalactones are not soluble in water, but are lipid (fat) soluble. So you want to use a pure lipid to extract for best results I reckon.

 

[CactusKava]

Success!

My first attempt with blender, water and coconut oil turned into a gloopy mess that never separated. So it occurred me, if I'm making a coconut oil extract why do I need water? Well I don't. So here is my method:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 US cup (60 mL) coconut oil (Mine is "refined" but it probably doesn't matter if you use "unrefined")
  
• 1/4 US cup (60 mL) kava medium grind powder (I used KWK Borogu)
• A microwave-safe dish
• A kava strainer (I used one of the nice 70 micron nylon ones I got from Cactus Kava)
• A small Tupperware-or-equivalent container
• A meat thermometer
  
• A refrigerator (You can buy one from @Kapmcrunk if you don't have one)

Instructions:

1. Place the coconut oil in the microwave-safe dish
   
2. If the coconut oil is solid, heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds to melt it. It should be a clear-ish liquid with no unmelted white chunks.
3. Mix the kava powder in with the coconut oil. Mix thouroughly. It should be more liquidy than solidy.
4. Heat the mixture to 150 F (65 C) in the microwave. To do this microwave it for about 15 seconds at a time, mix, and check the temperature with the meat thermometer, until it reaches the desired temperature. Don't leave the meat thermomer in the dish when it is in the microwave!! (It might be possible to use higher temperatures for greater extraction, but this is what I used. You don't want the oil so hot that it chemically alters the kavalactones, which is possible because oil can get a lot hotter than water. Probably the absolute maximum temperature would be less than the boiling point of water.)
5. Set the dish aside for 45 minutes or so to allow it to cool to about 80 F (27 C). You want the oil to be closer to room temperature, but still liquid.
6. Strain the mixture through the strainer into the Tupperware container. Squeeze as much of the oil out as you can. Mail the oily makas remaining in the strainer to @shakas. Wash the strainer with soap to remove oily residue.
7. Seal the container with the extract and refrigerate until it solidifies.

I'll post some pictures in a minute.

I just tried about a quarter teaspoon of it, and it has a very mild kava taste, and slight numbing feeling. Effects are overpowered by the real kava I am drinking so I don't know if that tiny amount actually had any effect. I tend to not be very sensitive to extract anyway..

That is some solid research, my friend. I was thinking about doing that exact thing within the next day or so. Not sure why the water is needed at all. I would be curious as to your reactions to this extract without having any root already in your system!

 

[verticity]

...I would be curious as to your reactions to this extract without having any root already in your system!

I don't know if that will ever happen, so I'll have to leave the human studies to others...

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Haha. Ive considered this many times in the past when making .. eh em. Other coconut oil extracts of a greener eh em variety
.. haha in fact I'm about to make this out of a newer said greener variety coconut mix so its a double banger

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

This is an old technique I came up with from the old ish days

Get some alchohol ... obviously vodka or ever clear doesn't matter . Prolly better to get something with some water content for water solubles.... heat that up as much as you can while stiring the herb (kava ect) then when the alchohol is full of constituents. ..

(with other stuff you know it's full cause the bud looks dead like no color... idk how kava will look but should be dry as hell... )

Then strain the plant matter out.. so you have an alchohol extract ... put coocnut oil in jar and place in hot water bath till it melts.. add the alchohol on top of the coconut oil and gradually bring up temperature to boiling water....

What this does is evaporate the alchohol on the top and instead of the actives being left over on a pan .. they leak into the coconut oil and once all the alchohol is gone then you have every thing the alchohol extracted ( which is alot!) Goes into the coconut oil. And then you refiner ate and you'll have the most potent coocnut oil you could imagine.... litterally almost 100% of atleast any herb will be gone except plant matter and a sad grey ish yellow color

 

[Kimmer]

@verticity The coconut cream I have is in brick form--I'd be surprised if there's any water in it. http://www.vitacost.com/lets-do-organic-creamed-coconut.

 

[Blippy5]

@verticity why not hear it in a pan, like the video Chris made " how to make a strong kava drink"

 

[verticity]

@verticity The coconut cream I have is in brick form--I'd be surprised if there's any water in it. http://www.vitacost.com/lets-do-organic-creamed-coconut.

The fact that it is solid does not mean there is no water in it. Your body is something like 75% water, and I assume you are in solid form (although I have never met you)

Looking at the "nutrition facts" of that there is:
Total Fat 19 g
Carbohydrate 8 g
Protein 2g
Water is not listed but I'm sure there is some moisture. It is a product of the whole coconut. For this you should use something that is pure fat, which coconut oil is.

The nutrition facts of coconut oil look something like:
Total Fat: 20 g
Carbohydrates: 0 g
Protein: 0 g

It's pure oil, so should work better as a solvent for extraction.

 

[verticity]

@verticity why not hear it in a pan, like the video Chris made " how to make a strong kava drink"

You could heat it in a small pan, but you would need to keep the thermometer in so you don't overheat it, and keep stirring it, so the oil on the bottom does not burn. I just found the microwave to be convenient, because you can zap it for 10 seconds, check the temp, etc, to make sure it doesn't overheat.

 

[verticity]

Haha. Ive considered this many times in the past when making .. eh em. Other coconut oil extracts of a greener eh em variety
.. haha in fact I'm about to make this out of a newer said greener variety coconut mix so its a double banger

Yes, this technique would also probably work for extracting the essential oils from herbs like mint.. or catnip..

 

[verticity]

This is an old technique I came up with from the old ish days

Get some alchohol ... obviously vodka or ever clear doesn't matter . Prolly better to get something with some water content for water solubles.... heat that up as much as you can while stiring the herb (kava ect) then when the alchohol is full of constituents. ..

(with other stuff you know it's full cause the bud looks dead like no color... idk how kava will look but should be dry as hell... )

Then strain the plant matter out.. so you have an alchohol extract ... put coocnut oil in jar and place in hot water bath till it melts.. add the alchohol on top of the coconut oil and gradually bring up temperature to boiling water....

What this does is evaporate the alchohol on the top and instead of the actives being left over on a pan .. they leak into the coconut oil and once all the alchohol is gone then you have every thing the alchohol extracted ( which is alot!) Goes into the coconut oil. And then you refiner ate and you'll have the most potent coocnut oil you could imagine.... litterally almost 100% of atleast any herb will be gone except plant matter and a sad grey ish yellow color

That's another way, it would essentially be an alcohol extract. So an interesting question is: is the coconut oil by itself able to extract as efficiently as alcohol? Maybe depends on the plant. I think temperature could probably play a significant role as well (hotter oil ==> more efficient extraction)

But I like the fact that my technique involves no alcohol, you don't have to worry about residual alcohol in the coconut oil.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

There is no residual alchohol .. trust me lol .. just heat it an extra 10 minutes if your really wor rid about it... you can smell it coming off more and more...