It seems like I've suddenly built a serious tolerance to Kava.

[lonnyzone]

I apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this post, but it's a sort of weird situation.
The first time I tried Kava was from a Kava bar in October of 2016. I think it was about 8oz, strong enough that it was noticeably numbing my mouth as a drank it. Overall effects, both primary and aftereffects, were great. A little while later, I picked up some Gaia herbs capsules from a health food store. Those worked, although obviously their effects were less prominent than drinking larger amounts.
I recently got a bag of Vula Waka Fiji Kava from Kalm with Kava, and the first/second times I made it were as follows:
4 tbsp of Kava in the strainer, 12oz of hot water, soak for 5 minutes, alternate between squeezing into the bowl and kneading above the bowl for another 5. This worked like a charm the first time, and less so the second; it seems like it tasted and felt stronger the first time.
I did the same thing the third time with cold water and coconut milk, and barely felt (or tasted) anything.
My fourth batch was yesterday; same process as the first two times, but I alternated between squeezing above and into the bowl and kneading it with a spoon in the liquid for about seven minutes. Took a sip immediately after making it, and it tasted stronger than any bowl I'd made previously. I refrigerated it all day and drank it late that afternoon, and it didn't taste or feel nearly as strong.
My point is that it seems like the same volume of Kava does way less for me all of a sudden. Very dissapointing. I'm curious as to why this might be, any input is appreciated. If my prep method is garbage please let me know.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

The prep seems fine but I don't know ... maybe your soaking in too hot of water?

So the only time you ever felt anything was from the kava bar ?

 

[lonnyzone]

Nah, I felt it from the capsules and the first couple preperations as well. I wasn't completely without feeling last night, but it felt like next to nothing, especially compared to how the 8oz from the bar and the first 12oz at home made me feel. I guess I should measure the temperature of the water I'm prepping it in even though I'm 99.9% sure it's not up to 140 degres.

 

[theGrogfather]

Are you consuming on an empty stomach? <------ important
Vula is strong so you should definitely be feeling something. Try kneading longer as well I usually go 10 mins.

 

[Cmessier]

Dude you may not even be through reverse tolerance yet. It took me a long time to get to a point where kava was reliable. It sounds like you havent actually had much at all.

Keep at it. And yes drink with an empty stomach. Youll learn how to get what youre after. Kava tales time and practice. Its not as simple as just chugging a shell and feeling good at first.

 

[kasa_balavu]

Protip: Knead *in* the water, not above it.

 

[Edward]

Try 5 or 6 tbps in 1 cup of milk and 3 cups of water in a blender. Blend for a couple of minutes then strain and chug a cupful every 30 mins.

 

[tribal1209]

I just bought the same kava and use 4 TBS as well. I make sure I have an empty stomach and so far it has hit me like a train every time.

1)Empty stomach
2)soak with warmer water and prepare with a proper strainer
3)slam entire batch
4)wait 15 to 20 min and resoak same batch. Slam that mixture too.

I've actually learned I need to slow down. Drinking it too fast can lead to some serious nausea but no doubt this Kava is strong as hell....and this is my first order after 6 years of abstaining.

 

[Groggy]

I just bought the same kava and use 4 TBS as well. I make sure I have an empty stomach and so far it has hit me like a train every time.

1)Empty stomach
2)soak with warmer water and prepare with a proper strainer
3)slam entire batch
4)wait 15 to 20 min and resoak same batch. Slam that mixture too.


I've actually learned I need to slow down. Drinking it too fast can lead to some serious nausea but no doubt this Kava is strong as hell....and this is my first order after 6 years of abstaining.

You may also want to try 1/2 cup of root to roughly 2 cups of water, add ice to cool it down. If that doesn't hit you hard every time, I would be surprised.

 

[lonnyzone]

Huh, I had no idea that drinking it on an empty stomach was important. Come to think of it, I had an empty stomach the day I found the Kava bar and don't think I'd eaten much before the first batch I made. I'll probably also try making two batches with what I would use for one, didn't think that was very viable until now. Thanks for the advice.
Edit: does this mean that eating after I drink it or while it's most active in my system will sober me up?

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Yeah, you're not building a tolerance to Kava. It is highly doubtful that one can even build a tolerance to Kava. I'd say with the mouth-numbing aspect that it does tend to reduce over time. When I first started drinking Kava 15 years ago I would always be blown away by the mouth-numbing and tongue-numbing. These days, I have to look for it to notice it. In terms of the effects, Kava is something that gradually grows in your system and tunes your body to "hear" it. If you take the approach of "slam entire batch" then you might be missing the point, or just getting into the wrong thing. The point isn't to get totally lit off the stuff. It has a subdued, mellow effect that rounds out the edges rather than blurring the lines.

 

[tribal1209]

Yeah, you're not building a tolerance to Kava. It is highly doubtful that one can even build a tolerance to Kava. I'd say with the mouth-numbing aspect that it does tend to reduce over time. When I first started drinking Kava 15 years ago I would always be blown away by the mouth-numbing and tongue-numbing. These days, I have to look for it to notice it. In terms of the effects, Kava is something that gradually grows in your system and tunes your body to "hear" it. If you take the approach of "slam entire batch" then you might be missing the point, or just getting into the wrong thing. The point isn't to get totally lit off the stuff. It has a subdued, mellow effect that rounds out the edges rather than blurring the lines.

That's a beautiful post, but kind of sseems like a lie don't ya think? What you just wrote could be comparable to a cup of chamomile tea and you and I both know Kava and it's sought after effects are much stronger than a bag of celestial seasonings

Not to mention I have seen posts of yours where you mention you are 16 TBS deep I don't care who you are anyone that takes 16 Tbs of kava in a session is on a mission and it sure as hell isn't a calm, meditative, not really feeling intoxicated, enlightening relaxation.

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Ha! Fair enough. I can do a dozen shells in a session whereas many people might feel ill doing that. But it's usually over a 5-6 hour period. And yeah, I'm usually trying to get into a zone when I drink Kava like that. But again, not like a "being drunk" kind of thing. More of a deep, meditative, blissful mindset. As I've stated elsewhere, I usually get a 30-45 min period where there are "waves of euphoria" after the six shell mark.

If I drink one shell of Kava, I still feel it quite a lot. But 11 more is certainly another beast.

 

[Cmessier]

That's a beautiful post, but kind of sseems like a lie don't ya think? What you just wrote could be comparable to a cup of chamomile tea and you and I both know Kava and it's sought after effects are much stronger than a bag of celestial seasonings

Not to mention I have seen posts of yours where you mention you are 16 TBS deep I don't care who you are anyone that takes 16 Tbs of kava in a session is on a mission and it sure as hell isn't a calm, meditative, not really feeling intoxicated, enlightening relaxation.

Lol.

Thats a loooot of root. For sure.

 

[lonnyzone]

Kavasseur, I'll try sipping on it sometime but nowadays I'm still more of a slam-the-whole-thing type of guy; that being said, I also can't see myself drinking 11 shells in one go, so you and I are just on different planets in that respect. I will say that drinking it quickly still does a lot more blurring the edges than the lines.
Deleted User, thanks for the additional resources.