Is kava getting weaker?

[SelfBiasResistor]

I've been seeing COAs of many different kavas and judging by kl % there has been no noticeable decrease in potency among the top selling kavas. Maybe you are just getting old and your body is getting worse at feeling kava? I don't know. I personally use 10g less kava this year than I did last year and get the same effects.

Well, I'm in my mid 30's now, so maybe I am getting old... I don't think that's it though since I've gone back to some 4 year old kava that's pretty stale at this point and it felt very good (I was going to trash it a while back but have now finished the bag : / ). I'm a heavy user and buy a variety of root from a variety of vendors but now there are only a couple of selections that I feel comfortable buying right now which really sucks. The vast majority of it just feels watered down. I really wish some vendors or farmers would comment on the current state of quality.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

for me "strong" is just one of many considerations of quality. While I do enjoy strong kavas, I only enjoy them occasionally. I drink kava all day every day so I am usually looking for components other than strong.

 

[Bula Kava House]

Well, I'm in my mid 30's now, so maybe I am getting old... I don't think that's it though since I've gone back to some 4 year old kava that's pretty stale at this point and it felt very good (I was going to trash it a while back but have now finished the bag : / ). I'm a heavy user and buy a variety of root from a variety of vendors but now there are only a couple of selections that I feel comfortable buying right now which really sucks. The vast majority of it just feels watered down. I really wish some vendors or farmers would comment on the current state of quality.

Some kava feels watered down for a few reasons. One, due to the quick increase in demand, farmers are harvesting younger plants and younger plants have lower kavalactone percentages. Two, you're getting less kava mixed with a little tudei. I'm not saying that noble kava needs some tudei for potency, but adding, say 10-20%, would make a normally mild kava noticeably more potent. That used to be very common. Much less so now. Three, some overseas processors are adding stems, which are low potency, or even possibly adding other substances all together. Think sawdust.

If you're having a hard time finding potent kava, we have a few. Nambawan, Nangol Noble, and Taveuni Waka have all been pretty potent recently. Some of our others may be a bit milder but they're still nice. And at least they're 100% kava roots and stump.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

for me "strong" is just one of many considerations of quality. While I do enjoy strong kavas, I only enjoy them occasionally. I drink kava all day every day so I am usually looking for components other than strong.

I know what you mean. Strong is subjective. What I consider to be good quality and strong, I know some people find overwhelming. Kava has never worked well for me as an all day solution but it's been unbeatable for late afternoon/night. There are cultivars that I've always considered to be weak but high quality (heady) because they did their job and allowed me to use them during the day sometimes but heavy night time kava is really what I've always loved.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

Some kava feels watered down for a few reasons. One, due to the quick increase in demand, farmers are harvesting younger plants and younger plants have lower kavalactone percentages. Two, you're getting less kava mixed with a little tudei. I'm not saying that noble kava needs some tudei for potency, but adding, say 10-20%, would make a normally mild kava noticeably more potent. That used to be very common. Much less so now. Three, some overseas processors are adding stems, which are low potency, or even possibly adding other substances all together. Think sawdust.

If you're having a hard time finding potent kava, we have a few. Nambawan, Nangol Noble, and Taveuni Waka have all been pretty potent recently. Some of our others may be a bit milder but they're still nice. And at least they're 100% kava roots and stump.

I've been wondering about all three of those points lately. When I think of lack of euphoria, it makes me think the plants have been harvested too young. But then I've also noticed that the next day heaviness (afterglow, shield, whatever you want to call it) is mostly non existent now. I used to feel some effects from last nights kava until around lunch time, now they seem to run their course in the middle of the night, which isn't as helpful for my sleep issues. That really makes me think of a lack of high dhm tudei that I may have been used to. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that sawdust is being used as filler more than we realize. That's pretty much what I feel like so much of my kava money has been buying lately.

I have been using a lot of Nangol lately. It's one of my 2 trusted daily drinkers at this point.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I know what you mean. Strong is subjective. What I consider to be good quality and strong, I know some people find overwhelming. Kava has never worked well for me as an all day solution but it's been unbeatable for late afternoon/night. There are cultivars that I've always considered to be weak but high quality (heady) because they did their job and allowed me to use them during the day sometimes but heavy night time kava is really what I've always loved.

I think probably the strongest kava in my stash is Kava Time Savusavu (with Kavafied Supreme a close second). I love it but can only drink it like once a month and then only at night and only after all my chores are done. Squanch is milder but even then it's so strong I try to limit myself to once a week.

It's kind of funny talking about kava being adulterated and that making it weaker, because that's what I do all the time, on purpose, using lawena.

 

[Summer]

I find this topic interesting as I can say that I have had to use more kava in the past 4-6 months to attain the relaxation I used to get. I also use between 8-10 tablespoons or more almost daily and rarely feel like that is even satisfying sometimes. I always read that you can take less kava the longer you drink it but for me that has not been the case. I just attributed it to its fickleness, so I have been trying to switch up my strains and so forth. But knowing I'm not the only one is at least comforting.

@SelfBiasResistor can I ask what you recommend as far as potency? I have recently tried the NN from BKH for the first time and the Kava Supreme, and though they are not my favorite tasting kavas they seem to get the job done.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

What kavas have you been drinking?

Quite a few. I've bought a lot over the years from GHK (potency seems to have gone down since around 2015 -- except for this years Kumakua and the spring batch of instant Mahakea that was very nice), KWK (potency seems to have dropped a lot in the past year), N@H (still usually potent but not as good as it used to be), Cactus (one of the more consistent but it's been about a year since I've really used them), DNB (the original Yalu prior to June of 2017 was great, tried the Waka in July and got no effects from it). Those are what I can think of right off hand... I've only tried The Kava Roots a couple of times, but they were very good. I've had good luck with my BKH purchases (late summer 2017-Present) with some being better than others for me. Kava Supreme has always been good, some batches more potent than others (a couple of bags being super strong).

I've scaled back on my purchasing a lot to only a couple varieties for the past couple of months. I'm at the point where it's no longer surprising when I buy something I have liked in the past and have to use an extreme amount for a fraction of the effects I used to get.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

@SelfBiasResistor can I ask what you recommend as far as potency? I have recently tried the NN from BKH for the first time and the Kava Supreme, and though they are not my favorite tasting kavas they seem to get the job done.

I've always preferred Vanuatu over other regions but the taste is pretty rough... Kava Supreme and Nangol have been my daily drinkers lately. Vanuatu Select was really, really good the last time I had it. I've been wanting to buy some more Wow! but it's been out of stock a lot.

 

[avahZ]

It’s just an observation , but I used to read about it taking 5 yrs for a Kava plant to be ready for harvest. Now I read folks saying 2 to 3 years...

 

[muddywaters]

I'm also betting on less mature plants being harvested before recently I never knew how much work went into it and how long it takes to grow great kava. Kava Supreme isn't bad that was my first , I kept getting it though because I wasn't too educated a while back and didn't know how different that different kinds could be. I barely get any euphoria if at all, just a calm general uplifted mood and after a while a warm comfortable body feel that the Winter is currently really giving a run for it's money and is very annoying cause cold and anything not summery do not mix with enjoying kava so well besides making it more tolerable even though I am still 500% done with Winter already after the first snow. Then again I probably started too late to the kava party and never got a taste of anything from super mature harvests that really blew my mind. I only just started branching out and I'm on KWK's Loa Waka right now, a bit less heady but a heavier calm body feel. Makes me just wanna listen to music, snack, and watch shows all night. I always get a bit of afterglow too but I'm pretty sure in many cases it's mostly just the frame of mind it leaves me with making me more normally calm and positive. Kava Supreme gave me more of an uplifted mood but less of what I'm getting now. I don't really know what I prefer yet, I'll just keep going at this and see what I like best. I think I am a happy heavy person and I only just should have left a bit more room in the alu ball and shook a bit more cause I could go for a little more kick. Or just doubled up altogether but I'm not made of money and don't wanna waste too much at once either and it's an ordinary night.

 

[Shell Silverstein]

for me "strong" is just one of many considerations of quality. While I do enjoy strong kavas, I only enjoy them occasionally. I drink kava all day every day so I am usually looking for components other than strong.

Krunkie, I think that I may give this method a go.. I want to drink all day, but I'm usually drinking heavy kavas, so my sessions end pretty quickly..

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Krunkie, I think that I may give this method a go.. I want to drink all day, but I'm usually drinking heavy kavas, so my sessions end pretty quickly..

I find it's nice to have as many viable options in my repertoire as possible. Options = power, or at least, options = personal sovereignty. Nothing wrong with getting krunkifamicated to the absolute max on the strongest couch-fodder there is. Sometimes. Everything in its proper place.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I'm also betting on less mature plants being harvested before recently I never knew how much work went into it and how long it takes to grow great kava. Kava Supreme isn't bad that was my first , I kept getting it though because I wasn't too educated a while back and didn't know how different that different kinds could be. I barely get any euphoria if at all, just a calm general uplifted mood and after a while a warm comfortable body feel that the Winter is currently really giving a run for it's money and is very annoying cause cold and anything not summery do not mix with enjoying kava so well besides making it more tolerable even though I am still 500% done with Winter already after the first snow. Then again I probably started too late to the kava party and never got a taste of anything from super mature harvests that really blew my mind. I only just started branching out and I'm on KWK's Loa Waka right now, a bit less heady but a heavier calm body feel. Makes me just wanna listen to music, snack, and watch shows all night. I always get a bit of afterglow too but I'm pretty sure in many cases it's mostly just the frame of mind it leaves me with making me more normally calm and positive. Kava Supreme gave me more of an uplifted mood but less of what I'm getting now. I don't really know what I prefer yet, I'll just keep going at this and see what I like best. I think I am a happy heavy person and I only just should have left a bit more room in the alu ball and shook a bit more cause I could go for a little more kick. Or just doubled up altogether but I'm not made of money and don't wanna waste too much at once either and it's an ordinary night.

a triple ball of nambawan using 6 TBS makes me feel as good and as blown away as I want any kava to make me feel. I'm sure there's kavas out there that could blow me away even more but I'm not even interested. That's as good as I could ever want to feel. I mean, that's it right there, that's where my kava train comes into the station and I get off.

 

[Shell Silverstein]

I find it's nice to have as many viable options in my repertoire as possible. Options = power, or at least, options = personal sovereignty. Nothing wrong with getting krunkifamicated to the absolute max on the strongest couch-fodder there is. Sometimes. Everything in its proper place.

I'm doing this as we speak..