Fresh Hawaiian?!
- Thread starter Bula Kava House
- Start date
Krunkie McKrunkface
Kava Connoisseur
Mine, too. I ordered last Wed, but I understand they can only fill these orders on certain days of the week so I expected a bit of a wait. Never had fresh before so I figured thais is what we gotta do so it's what we gotta do. I hope it comes tomorrow or Sat. Still not sure how I will prepare it. I might just chew the crap out of it.
scaryjarri
Kava Curious
I received mine couple days ago and it is really good stuff. It is Nene.
I used 1/2# in a ninja blender with about 1/2g of water. I turned it on a for maybe 15 minutes in 5 minute intervals. Not sure if that was nesesary but, it turned out really good and I got 3 washes out of it.
It tasted really good like fresh cucumber juice. Its kinda expensive considering how much we got out of it but then again, its not available and was pretty great.
I used 1/2# in a ninja blender with about 1/2g of water. I turned it on a for maybe 15 minutes in 5 minute intervals. Not sure if that was nesesary but, it turned out really good and I got 3 washes out of it.
It tasted really good like fresh cucumber juice. Its kinda expensive considering how much we got out of it but then again, its not available and was pretty great.
fait
Position 5 Hard Support
I concluded when I got mine back in November that fresh kava, outside of the Pacific Islands, is a luxury. Probably best enjoyed with friends so they can get the fresh experience with you.
100% agree. In fact, the kava I purchased from ROH remains in the deep freezer until I find a time when I can share it with people who enjoy kava.
fait
Position 5 Hard Support
I'm still waiting on Fiji Fresh to figure out their flash-frozen process. This could be a game-changer. Luckily kava makes waiting a lot easier.
fait
Position 5 Hard Support
I should've said something about that. They do include a single-use ice pack and lots of insulation.
Please let me know about how the Nene is. I may be buy some if they have any left. I have a friend moving in soon and this would be great special-occasion kava for that.
Zaphod
Kava Lover
I got my Nene on Friday evening but since I had already started into my kava drinking I decided to throw it in the freezer and wait until Saturday to try it out so it was a fresh experience. I had a very small lunch and waited until about 3:30-4pm before partaking.
Prep:
1/2 lb of the frozen kava, with slightly less 1/2 gallon of warm water (the rest of the water I saved for a second wash) in the blender. Blend 2-3 times for 30-40 seconds. Pour through my handy-dandy strainer bag and knead the heck out of it. Then I threw the remaining water into the blender to rinse it and put it back through the strainer for a second wash. Since the kava is already "wet" it is pretty close to the full 1/2 gallon after prep.
Taste:
Farking amazing. No bitterness what so ever. Very light and "green" and very little sediment. Much like a cucumber water. Instead of a muddy dirt flavor like dry it has a very grassy light flavor.
Effect:
Immediately numbed mouth. Very high kavain right up front. It hit me in not in the typical 10-15 minutes but 1-2 minutes. Came on very fast. The euphoria from this was overwhelming. Almost no body effect it was all heady. It had me heady and euphoric for several hours. Now between my wife and I we finished off almost the full 1/2 gallon, with me drinking more than my wife. As I added more through out the evening I was just hit with more and more waves of euphoria. It was intense but a thoroughly great kava experience. I experienced almost no sedation, but when I did go to bed had no problem falling right to sleep and slept great. I did wake up the next morning with a slight headache but I think that was driven from a bit of dehydration, as I really didn't drink much else during the evening.
Conclusion:
Great experience, great flavor, would do it again except for price. I expect I will order some more and store in the freezer (like my second 1/2 lb) and only use occasionally. Even though it was cold out it was slightly defrosted when it arrived so for us on the East Cost it might make sense to only order during the colder months. Oh, and RoH never sent an email saying it shipped so I had to continually check the website to find out order status.
Prep:
1/2 lb of the frozen kava, with slightly less 1/2 gallon of warm water (the rest of the water I saved for a second wash) in the blender. Blend 2-3 times for 30-40 seconds. Pour through my handy-dandy strainer bag and knead the heck out of it. Then I threw the remaining water into the blender to rinse it and put it back through the strainer for a second wash. Since the kava is already "wet" it is pretty close to the full 1/2 gallon after prep.
Taste:
Farking amazing. No bitterness what so ever. Very light and "green" and very little sediment. Much like a cucumber water. Instead of a muddy dirt flavor like dry it has a very grassy light flavor.
Effect:
Immediately numbed mouth. Very high kavain right up front. It hit me in not in the typical 10-15 minutes but 1-2 minutes. Came on very fast. The euphoria from this was overwhelming. Almost no body effect it was all heady. It had me heady and euphoric for several hours. Now between my wife and I we finished off almost the full 1/2 gallon, with me drinking more than my wife. As I added more through out the evening I was just hit with more and more waves of euphoria. It was intense but a thoroughly great kava experience. I experienced almost no sedation, but when I did go to bed had no problem falling right to sleep and slept great. I did wake up the next morning with a slight headache but I think that was driven from a bit of dehydration, as I really didn't drink much else during the evening.
Conclusion:
Great experience, great flavor, would do it again except for price. I expect I will order some more and store in the freezer (like my second 1/2 lb) and only use occasionally. Even though it was cold out it was slightly defrosted when it arrived so for us on the East Cost it might make sense to only order during the colder months. Oh, and RoH never sent an email saying it shipped so I had to continually check the website to find out order status.
That's what I'm talking about
Now, if we could get them to invest in one of these
(Product Link)
(we have this model at our office and just watching its operation lets me know it would be perfect for kava as it uses the entire top chamber to vacuum and not the bag itself. You can vacuum seal a bag of water no problem with it.)
To add a good vacuum seal bag to the mix would, in my opinion, really round out the experience as long as they were able to hone in on shipping times. I have my mahakea vacuum sealed in a mylar bag in the bottom of the deep freezer.
Zaphod
Kava Lover
Yes! My father in law uses one for these for fresh tuna/swordfish he catches and it keeps it nicely sealed up and frozen for a long time. Upon delivery my nene was slightly defrosted and a bit had leaked into the second bag (not much) because the first bag had a small hole. Probably from the freezing process. A vacuum sealer would definitely make a difference. Over the next few months (while it is still cold out) I plan to order a few more lbs to store in deep freeze.That's what I'm talking about
Now, if we could get them to invest in one of these
View attachment 9827
(Product Link)
(we have this model at our office and just watching its operation lets me know it would be perfect for kava as it uses the entire top chamber to vacuum and not the bag itself. You can vacuum seal a bag of water no problem with it.)
To add a good vacuum seal bag to the mix would, in my opinion, really round out the experience as long as they were able to hone in on shipping times. I have my mahakea vacuum sealed in a mylar bag in the bottom of the deep freezer.
Hay, I have one of those vacuum sealers, I also have a lot of kava growing so you can say I have fresh kava at my finger tips.That's what I'm talking about
Now, if we could get them to invest in one of these
View attachment 9827
(Product Link)
(we have this model at our office and just watching its operation lets me know it would be perfect for kava as it uses the entire top chamber to vacuum and not the bag itself. You can vacuum seal a bag of water no problem with it.)
To add a good vacuum seal bag to the mix would, in my opinion, really round out the experience as long as they were able to hone in on shipping times. I have my mahakea vacuum sealed in a mylar bag in the bottom of the deep freezer.
Oh wait did I say that out loud? Ho no, I hope that @Zaphod does not read this post. Aloha.
Chris
Chris, any thoughts on entering the frozen game? Maybe use a distributor somewhere in the states?Hay, I have one of those vacuum sealers, I also have a lot of kava growing so you can say I have fresh kava at my finger tips.
Aloha.
Chris
nashfire
Stay Rooted
I second that! And Idaho would be a great place to distribute from... specifically my kitchen....I mean warehouse!
Zaphod
Kava Lover
You can be the west coast distributor, I want east coast.I second that! And Idaho would be a great place to distribute from... specifically my kitchen....I mean warehouse!
Zaphod
Kava Lover
If you need to say "test" the process you know my addressHay, I have one of those vacuum sealers, I also have a lot of kava growing so you can say I have fresh kava at my finger tips.
Aloha.
Chris
Since there is a lot of you that are getting some fresh Hawaiian 'Awa root, I thought I would post this picture of some directions on how to make a drink from the fresh kava.
Remember that it takes 5 pounds of wet root to make 1 pound of dry root so if you have 1 pound of fresh root it is like having 1/5th pound of dry root. The directions are courtesy of Ed Johnston, this is from the book Hawaiian 'Awa Views of an Ethnobotanical Treasure. Now go and enjoy some great kava. Aloha.
Chris
Remember that it takes 5 pounds of wet root to make 1 pound of dry root so if you have 1 pound of fresh root it is like having 1/5th pound of dry root. The directions are courtesy of Ed Johnston, this is from the book Hawaiian 'Awa Views of an Ethnobotanical Treasure. Now go and enjoy some great kava. Aloha.
Chris
scaryjarri
Kava Curious
I purchased 1# and my threw 1/2# in the freezer. My wife asked me to pull it out only a few days after the first batch.
We drank our first batch while working and it put us in a great mood and it felt much less dehydrating than the typical dried ground.
$30+ for a batch for 2 people is more pricey but, I think pretty great considering what it is.
We drank our first batch while working and it put us in a great mood and it felt much less dehydrating than the typical dried ground.
$30+ for a batch for 2 people is more pricey but, I think pretty great considering what it is.