What's new

Powdered Kava Review Fiji's Best Kava - AAA Waka

Steve Mariotti

Kavapithecus Krunkarensis
Review Maestro
Solid!

Preparation and Taste

I did my usual, which is 2-4 tbsp (in this case 4) of ground root to 2 cups of water. Soaked for 10 minutes, poured into the 25 micron filter bag, and kneaded aggressively for 15 minutes straight. It took a while longer for this kava to stain my bag (I just got a new bag) so I got the sense that the kavalactone percentage is much lower than pretty much anything I buy from GHK or KWK. With focused application of forearm muscles, I eventually got a nice stain on the bag and my second wash showed me that I was pretty much done kneading. It produced 2 cups of grog counting for liquid lost into the root powder and bag and spillage.

The taste is pretty flat. It's mild, but without much character. After chugging a shell, it was innocuous at first, and then ended up with a stale, bitter taste so I suspect this has been on the shelf for a little while. Chris at GHK has spoiled me with his "born on dates" and his really fresh root, and this is not like those in flavor. It lacks the "latex glove" overtones that I seem to get from fresher kava. It was not hard to drink, and is clearly a Fijian compared to, say, a Vanuatu kava. It's darker (more of a chocolate brown and less of a light tan) than other Fijian kava I've had.

Onset and Effects

I noticed the presence of kava after about 30 minutes which was two shells. By the fourth shell I had ringing in the ears, and noticed some warmth in the face which is usually the sign of a heady kava for me. I also evened out both mentally and physically and settled into a nice gentle flow state which I've come to expect from all kava that I drink. At least, all good kava.

I'd describe this one as a moderately heady variety with some mild body effects as well. I'm not getting the total body looseness I get with Nene or Mahakea or Borongoru, and I'm not excited and feeling giddy with an inner sense of anticipation like I get with Mo'i or Pouni Ono (or KavaBoy for that matter, if brewed strong.) It's kind of a middle-of-the-road kava session but I'm definitely in full kava mode after almost two hours of my first shell.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

This is a good, very real, very clean kava that's a little low on potency but otherwise very satisfying. Simply upping the dosage a little erodes the value of a $20 pound, but even so it's still cost effective and still quite good.

Make no mistake, this is not a top shelf kava like GHK Mo'i, which stands alone among the varieties I've tried as being something truly special and amazing. But for a mid-week evening kava, it's pretty great. When I'm saving my top shelf stuff for the weekend, this will be a great go-to during the week to help me decompress from work and prepare for a sound night's sleep.

I'd also recommend this to anyone starting out with kava who's not overcome reverse tolerance yet. It would get you into the swing of traditional prep, pay against your RT debt, and not be money out the window. At the point where RT is reached and the AAA Waka really comes shining through, switching to something like Mahakea would be a mind-blower.
 
Top