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Floral taste? like REALLY floral

Mixnpickngrinnin

Mixnpickngrinnin

Kava Curious
Hey so I recently got a bag of Tongan kava from a little known but seemingly legit vendor. I was excited to try it. when i opened the bag it smelled unlike any Kava i have ever smelled. Basically it smelled like someone had dumped rose or geranium essential oil on the kava. When i brewed it and drank it the same way i always do, it still had an extremely floral flavor that was also kinda soapy (this is something ive tasted before in what i would consider kavas that are fine but slightly off). The effects were fine and i wouldn't say this kava was bad, but it was strange tasting enough that i am not exactly excited to drink it again.

Now, i do not think that anyone dumped rose oil on this kava. My question is does this have to do potentially with improper drying or storage? anyone experience this before?

I've tried dozens of kavas from all the islands and this is a flavor I have never come close to experiencing. If this was the first kava i ever tried i don't think i would have had such an odd response, but since I am pretty experienced it just seems strange. Let me know what you think.
 
Alia

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
Mixnpickngrinnin said:
Hey so I recently got a bag of Tongan kava from a little known but seemingly legit vendor. I was excited to try it. when i opened the bag it smelled unlike any Kava i have ever smelled. Basically it smelled like someone had dumped rose or geranium essential oil on the kava. When i brewed it and drank it the same way i always do, it still had an extremely floral flavor that was also kinda soapy (this is something ive tasted before in what i would consider kavas that are fine but slightly off). The effects were fine and i wouldn't say this kava was bad, but it was strange tasting enough that i am not exactly excited to drink it again.

Now, i do not think that anyone dumped rose oil on this kava. My question is does this have to do potentially with improper drying or storage? anyone experience this before?

I've tried dozens of kavas from all the islands and this is a flavor I have never come close to experiencing. If this was the first kava i ever tried i don't think i would have had such an odd response, but since I am pretty experienced it just seems strange. Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...
This issue comes up down and then and nearly always with Tongan kava. In the mid-1990's I had a contact in Tonga who regularly sent me packets of ground kava with this floral flavour. I actually liked it. No explanation from the source but a few years later I was grinding fresh 'Awa Panaewa (Hawaiian cultivar) in a Corona Corn grinder and got the exact same fragrance. I consulted with a friend at UH, Manoa and they said it was likely volatiles like terpenes , "secondary metabolome"??
Why is this a rare occurance? I don't know.
 
Mixnpickngrinnin

Mixnpickngrinnin

Kava Curious
Alia said:
This issue comes up down and then and nearly always with Tongan kava. In the mid-1990's I had a contact in Tonga who regularly sent me packets of ground kava with this floral flavour. I actually liked it. No explanation from the source but a few years later I was grinding fresh 'Awa Panaewa (Hawaiian cultivar) in a Corona Corn grinder and got the exact same fragrance. I consulted with a friend at UH, Manoa and they said it was likely volatiles like terpenes , "secondary metabolome"??
Why is this a rare occurance? I don't know.
Click to expand...
interesting... so you do not think its an issue related to drying or something like that? I wish i liked it but its powerful and so different from every other kava i have drank that it kinda messes with my head!!
 
Alia

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
Mixnpickngrinnin said:
interesting... so you do not think its an issue related to drying or something like that? I wish i liked it but its powerful and so different from every other kava i have drank that it kinda messes with my head!!
Click to expand...
Correct, I don't see how it could be related to drying, etc. because of that night I was grinding fresh root/stump (harvested a few hours earlier) and the same fragrance was there! Fascinating plant.
 
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