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I am a boil up convert.

Skywalker

Kava Enthusiast
I delayed this as long as possible. My demons and moral conflict made me put it off- Fear of divorce. Laziness. The gospel of Adil. (1:55 time mark )

Finally I caved. The high US dollar. A new son who is finding ways to spend my money- all these pressures. So I gave it a try.

Boiled kava not only extracts every last ounce of kavalactones, it also products the smoothest and most pleasant kava I have tried. And most interestingly, it gave me a much more rounded and mellow buzz than I have experience before. I think this extracted more complex and subtle kavalactones than just squeezing.

Well worth the extra effort. Make sure the wife isn't in the kitchen when you do this

 

Skywalker

Kava Enthusiast
Start with cold water and kava and slowly heat until you get a particularly disgusting sludge. Run that through a stocking mesh once cooled ish. Use the same water kava ratio as usual.

You will feel weird buying stockings. Just roll with it.

And, *this is the important part* put it away until tomorrow. Or at the very least wait until it is cold as can be. Add lemon juice.

Oh and as an added plus, boiling is the only time I have been able to actually SEE the kavalactones. Very cool.
 
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verticity

I'm interested in things
I wonder if adding amylase to convert the starch to sugar would work in combination with the boiling method to make the taste less funky.
 

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I'm yet to try this but soon will. I'm planning on doing most of the boiling with water and then adding milk to thin it and cool it before I strain.

By the way @verticity was it you who told me about powdered ginger? Do you boil and strain it before using or do you just add some to a drink and deal with the sludge?
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
I'm yet to try this but soon will. I'm planning on doing most of the boiling with water and then adding milk to thin it and cool it before I strain.

By the way @verticity was it you who told me about powdered ginger? Do you boil and strain it before using or do you just add some to a drink and deal with the sludge?
I think I said something about powdered ginger. I don't think you would need to strain out the ginger, just mix it in before drinking...
 

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I think I said something about powdered ginger. I don't think you would need to strain out the ginger, just mix it in before drinking...
Ok thanks. I find it a bit sludgy like that. Maybe I should use less? How do you use it?
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
Ok thanks. I find it a bit sludgy like that. Maybe I should use less? How do you use it?
I don't use it in kava. But I did try to make ginger tea that way a couple times. It was very ... gingery. Maybe filtering would help, or you could place the ginger in a filter/tea-bag like thing and let it steep. Or you can probably buy ginger tea in tea bags.
 

GussWest

Kava Enthusiast
I am a fan of the heating methods as well.
I believe ultrasonification or a freeze-thaw cycle of wetted kava powder would also serve a similar purpose.

Clearly, heating serves to effectively lyse starch-containing cells and vacuoles to release free kavalactones into suspension.

While I cannot find botanical literature on the subject, I believe it is possible that KLs are stored in the same vacuoles as starch granules in the plant roots. Macas is likely the vascular structure of the root. This functional dichotomy may explain the differential [KL] and contents of these two portions of the roots.
 

thewanderingwise1

Kava Curious
Start with cold water and kava and slowly heat until you get a particularly disgusting sludge. Run that through a stocking mesh once cooled ish. Use the same water kava ratio as usual.

You will feel weird buying stockings. Just roll with it.

And, *this is the important part* put it away until tomorrow. Or at the very least wait until it is cold as can be. Add lemon juice.

Oh and as an added plus, boiling is the only time I have been able to actually SEE the kavalactones. Very cool.
Ive been doing this method for quite a while, I drank it right after a couple times and it made me feel awful. Do you know why it does that and what purpose does the lemon juice serve
 
S

Summer

I just tried this method, and it really was amazing. Also the first time I could see such an oil slick on the top of my grog. I still strained the heck out of it, and added a little water until it wasn't so sludgy - so still finding a good balance with that. Overall I can see how this will probably save me time and kava in the future.
 

VictoryRider

Kava Enthusiast
Just tried this method myself this past Friday. I used 1/3 less kava powder and got a stronger effect.
Didn't care for the "thickness" of the result, but it wasn't too bad. Great effects from less root!!
 

TidyMinion

Kava Padawan
I'll make kava with room temp water usually then put aside the root in the freezer until I get a quart bag full or so. Then I dump it all in a big pot to simmer for an hour - that's time it takes to boil then simmer the rest of the hour or so. no real defined process but I put that in the fridge and, once cold, add in to another first wash batch. It's my kava booster. The taste is noticeably different. Yehh don't drink that sh** warm.

EDIT: I boil root and water together then let cool, then strain...sometimes blend it up before straining.
 
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Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I'll make kava with room temp water usually then put aside the root in the freezer until I get a quart bag full or so. Then I dump it all in a big pot to simmer for an hour - that's time it takes to boil then simmer the rest of the hour or so. no real defined process but I put that in the fridge and, once cold, add in to another first wash batch. It's my kava booster. The taste is noticeably different. Yehh don't drink that sh** warm.

EDIT: I boil root and water together then let cool, then strain...sometimes blend it up before straining.
That's really getting the most out of your kava!
 

LnxPrgr3

Newbie
Waiting until the second wash to boil cuts down on the sludge factor a lot. I do 3 washes for 4 level tablespoons of root: 8oz, 8oz, and 6oz, to fill a 20oz bottle. (I consistently lose about 2oz water in the process.) If I boil the first wash, I have to dilute it to strain—the result is basically paste. If I wait until the second wash to boil, it goes through easily, and the end result tastes less burnt-starchy.

To keep it thinner and do less damage to the flavor, I pour boiling water over the kava, rather than boiling them together. I've done it both ways, but I've settled on the less extreme version.

I might be a lightweight, but the result is strong enough that I rarely finish the batch in a night. 15oz (so 3tbsp) at once makes for an interesting time—I don't do that often. I end up drinking a hair over that over 2 hours. If I make it to 20oz, that's after several hours.
 

KavaKitty

Meaow
The one and only time I tried to follow the directions from @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava s boiling method, I burned the hell out of my kava. I've been scared to try it ever since, but since I've been making bigger batches, maybe I'll get it right this time, i.e., more water = less chance of having the kava stick to the pot. Burnt kava does not taste good, my friends.
 
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