What's new

How many of you folks do the blender method?

Zaphod

Kava Lover
Any tips/tricks I'm missing. Tried it yesterday and it seemed to work a lot better than traditional.
Oh, it works great. I find that the clean up afterwords is longer and more tedious than traditional prep and quite frankly once I am krunk I get real lazy:yawn:::couch::. Be forewarned you should use a glass blender versus plastic if you want any chance of getting the yellow sticky KLs cleaned up.
 

RevRad

Kava Curious
Never had a problem with any plastic before. All you have to do is rinse it with warm water, not even soap.
 

Intrepidus_dux

Kava O.G.
I rarely do the blending and stick to traditional prep. You do whatever works best for you! Hope that video posted above helps. Krunky has good instructions on there.
 

ThePiper

Kava Lover
I think I might try the blender method again sometime soon. I used to use the blender method every time when I first got into kava. I remember doing big blender batches with my brother of Kava by Rex Tongan. I do like the froth that you get at the top, the texture of that "head" you see tends to show whether you've got a potent brew. You can always do blender and then finish off with a minute or two of kneading when you go to strain it. I do think the blender method puts aluball to shame though.
 

AlexisReal

Kava Enthusiast
I think I might try the blender method again sometime soon. I used to use the blender method every time when I first got into kava. I remember doing big blender batches with my brother of Kava by Rex Tongan. I do like the froth that you get at the top, the texture of that "head" you see tends to show whether you've got a potent brew. You can always do blender and then finish off with a minute or two of kneading when you go to strain it. I do think the blender method puts aluball to shame though.
Hello. That's interesting, and I have seen that exact view expressed by numerous others recently, regarding aluball vs blender.

I am new to this forum, 2nd post, and only been a daily kava drinker since November, but I use it pretty heavily, in terms of effects achieved.

I am too fatigued due to Lyme Disease to do proper kneading. So to use the blender with sunflower lecitihin was a pleasure and breeze.

I know what you mean about the froth too.
But after watching Krunkie's Youtube video on using the straoner bag shaking in a jar, I tried that and found it to be more potent and harder hitting than the blended grog (which was always very thick, dark and effective).

I recently acquired 2 aluballs. I am OCD and have been weighing 14 grams per ball, with lecitihin, hot-ish water, several minutes shaking in 300ml water max.

2 washes per ball, less water 2nd wash, or lately, one wash with one Aluball, set aside and switch to a new 24 gram ball and Cultivar, then shake both of those together for their 2nd washes.

This yields me 3 pretty equally strong glasses.

Anyway...so I'm just intrigued on how so many are adamant the blender, or "traditional prep", is clearly superior.

I saw the Aluballs as a nice alternative to bag in a jar. I really enjoy using them. And I get very very substantially affected.

I hwve been lazy since however, not blending. So I should try it again for a while I think.

Pros and cons to each, regarding ease and practicality.
 

AlexisReal

Kava Enthusiast
Where can I get a strainer just like the one @Krunkie McKrunkface is using here ?
I
I just have 2 strainers from thekavasocietynz. I used one of them to practice this method, keep the other for the blender- I would let the bag sit submersed for consecutive, or even initial washes and it did shrink up a bit but still fine to use.

I found this jar method very potent and I also got more nausea from it. Surely due to more sediment passing through from the vigorous shaking.
 

ThePiper

Kava Lover
I can do a decent wash with traditional prep from start to finish in under 3 minutes. I don't think it has to be labor intensive. Just make sure you do a second wash later. I pour water, fill strainer with kava, and then squeeze or massage bag for about 10-15 squeezes if I'm in a hurry and get good grog. I do more when I'm making a big batch or trying to get more out of it, but nobody should worry about traditional prep being physically taxing.
 

Nikki Collins

Kava Curious
I tend to use the aluball during the week, and freeze the left over makas after a few washes. By Thursday, I add my last ball and defrost, then use the blender/kneading for the left over makas. This makes a good strong brew for the weekend (I also enjoy the feel of kneading but too much work for everyday). Sometimes I add in a tablespoon of fresh kava powder to add a bit more potency but not always. My feeling is you don't have to do just one method all the time, it's great to allow you to mix and match depending on the day.
 

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
@Krunkie McKrunkface How come you'd normally let it sit for 10 mins? What's the rationale behind that?
It intensifies the krunkitude. After many tests I found no advantage to letting it sit longer than 10 minutes. Doesn’t hurt it, just won’t become me more intense after 10 minutes of waiting.

I am guessing it works because the blender does a violent smashing of root particles and it takes a while for some to leech out of the root particles from being exposed to moisture.
 

Kavacoordinate

Kava Enthusiast
I would also add that higher speeds on the blender are not necessarily better. I actually get better results from lower speeds because the higher you blended the more it mushes it up and it becomes this gelatinous ball rather than the fibrous materials that release all the kavalactones goodness
 

babesugarbunny

Kava Enthusiast
I would also add that higher speeds on the blender are not necessarily better. I actually get better results from lower speeds because the higher you blended the more it mushes it up and it becomes this gelatinous ball rather than the fibrous materials that release all the kavalactones goodness
Wow, this is something I'm going to try. I usually use a food processor for 5-10 minutes on the highest speed.
So maybe that's something I should not continuing doing?
 
Top