Howdy y'all

[currentbun]

Well, she was an American girl
Raised on promises...
Me. Anyway, thought I should say hello.
Been lurking a day or so but I'm so glad to have found this forum after only slightly screwing up my first drink. After some research (sans kavaforums) I purchased the Kava Kalm Pouni Ono Tongan, but had no clue as to how it would be prepared. After reading the label and verifying with some random YouTube videos, I decided to use some cheesecloth and boiled water but let it cool for about ten minutes first. It wasn't bad for a first experience, but the cheesecloth did allow a lot of sediment through so for any other noobs, don't do it. This evening, I'm cutting up some old pantyhose and going to use that doubled up. It seems to work well in a few videos out there.

Now that I've been exposed to the plethora of awesomeness on this forum, I've just made my second purchase. This time, I'm going for Kavafied Waka Fiji powder as I'd like to have that as an alternate option, since it's effects seem to be different from the Tongan, which seems to be great (for me) for daytime. I also decided to go for the AluBall, as I'm not convinced that kneading every day (maybe twice a day?) is for me.

I guess it's true what they say. I've lost my kava cherry, so now all my time will be spent ensuring there's always more to be had.

Thanks for doing what y'all do.

 

[currentbun]

Rather than start another thread, I have a newbie question about reverse tolerance. I haven't seen anything definitive about it, other than a reference in a survey that was done amongst forum members a couple of years ago.

Is there any scientific explanation for a true reverse tolerance? Or has there been any progress as to the notion that we noobs take some time to acclimate to the task of preparing our kava? I'm tending to think the latter but, of course, my experience is severely limited.

The very first time, I had a mild and possibly placebo-effect experience. My methodology hadn't been planned, so it was a bit of a fiasco, so that could explain it.
The next time, I'd found this forum and tried to duplicate the most traditional methods and had a more relaxing experience but still, not much. After viewing more videos, I realized I wasn't squeezing that sucker hard enough.
Today, my third, I used GHK's method which is a stronger brew, but I finally feel what I've been waiting for all along. Happy happy Sunday to all.

Do you believe it's possible those types of miscalculations could account for what's perceived as reverse tolerance, or is it something altogether different? I'd love to hear others' thoughts on this.

 

[EQ]

RT has been debated, and critiqued.

I never experienced RT and had never heard of it before joining the forum last year. Never heard...

While over the years I have perhaps become more sensitive to kava (and more aware of the subtle...

Welcome to the Forums. Give the roots the mean knead.

 

[kavadude]

Do you believe it's possible those types of miscalculations could account for what's perceived as reverse tolerance, or is it something altogether different?

This, combined with the extremely variable quality of kava supply (which has improved vastly over the last few years, at least for those of us who order from kava-specific vendors), could seem to account entirely for what we call reverse tolerance.

 

[currentbun]

Thanks for those links, EQ. There were tons of posts and threads, but I wasn't able to find the ones that addressed that question. Will check 'em out.

 

[Kavababa]

Welcome to the forums!
Sounds like you have some good kava to start with. I have some kwk pouni ono, but havent made any up yet to try it.

I have tried the kavafied whole Fiji lateral roots and they are very potent, so your med grind should be as well.

Enjoy!

(As for reverse tolerance, could be some means of upregulation but like you said there havent been too many studies into it. Personally, the effects did seem to become more pronounced to me over time)