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Kava FAQ's from customers

Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I've realised I get asked a lot of questions by my customers to which I always try and give full answers. I'm thinking that posting them here couldn't be a bad thing to try and help others?

I'll start with one that I got just now and see if I can add some more as I go along. If any other vendors want to contribute to this then that's all good.

"In terms of effectiveness, in your opinion is there a comparison between medium grind and instant?"

To which my answer was...

Instant is always more effective just because there is no room for prep error, there are less variables in terms of water temperature, how well your blender is working, how well you strain it, etc, etc. With a lot of practice you can get medium grind very consistent but still instant will always edge it. Out of choice I always give my pets instant but they do like a good medium grind occasionally but only ever really for the different tastes and effects available.
 
Groggy

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
Edward said:
Out of choice I always give my pets instant but they do like a good medium grind occasionally but only ever really for the different tastes and effects available.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you pets are well cared for! It's great to see so many pets in your neck of the woods get all the help they can!!
 
Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
A new customer asked about the dosage of instant for a larger pet. Here's my reply...

I don't know how much you have read into reverse tolerance but to start with you will need to use more and as time goes on you can use less and less. The size of the pet doesn't seem to make a lot of difference to the required dose bizarrely enough. I think it's more down to the body chemistry, hydration levels, etc.

I would start with 2 rounded teaspoons in 250 ml of cold tap water. Using a shaker bottle mixes the powder best. Be sure your dog has an empty stomach, say 2 to 3 hours after eating. They can eat after and whilst drinking kava but probably won't feel like it much. You can repeat the dose 2 or 3 times per session spread out every 30 to 45 minutes. Be guided by how your pet feels and remember it has a delayed effect so once your pet is feeling good it's a good time to stop as adding more will just lead to nausea. Having something with ginger on hand is a good idea as it calms kava nausea really well. There is a bit of a learning curve with this as of course you don't know just how good your pet can feel until you explore the boundaries and that does mean you are going to occasionally push him into a touch of nausea.

In time you could probably get down to 1 level teaspoon per dose. That's about the lowest for a maintenance dose. Don't be afraid to try more if you want, I've tried up to 6 rounded teapsoons but of course it's not cheap stuff so better to start somewhere in the middle and adjust from there.

Don't be too surprised if not much happens the first time or maybe even two. That's completely normal and you just need to persevere.
 
Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
Do you have any recommendations on how to get the full effect? I used 3 tablespoons in a blender for 3 minutes and then sifted in a strainer. But I'm not sure I could tell any difference in my dogs behaviour after I gave it him.

I answered...

How much water did you use?

Remember reverse tolerance means that it can take a few times to make a difference. Make sure your pets stomach is empty, say 2 to 3 hours without eating.

Your method sounds ok but I'm wondering if you used too little water for that amount of kava? I would put 3 to 5 tablespoons into a litre of water and split that into 4 x 250g to be given every 30 to 45 minutes.

Turns out it was 300 ml to which I said...

Yes, that amount of water isn't going to be able to extract all of the kavalactones from the root. Better to use a bit more water and top up over a period of time to let the effects build.
 
Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I like kava but I miss a glass of wine. Am I ok to still have a glass of wine?

.......

The issue with it is that they are both processed by the same pathways in the liver. What happens if you mix the two is that neither is processed as quickly and so they hang around in your system and the effects last longer than you are used to. This can be pretty uncomfortable if you are not expecting it but manageable I suppose if you are. It's not recommended to drink the two together just because it would make your liver work twice has hard and in the long run that's not good.

What you can do is drink either alcohol or kava on any particular evening and going from one to the other on consecutive nights is not an issue. I do tend to find though that once I start drinking alcohol it takes ma ages to get round to getting back onto kava. Usually I need to give myself a nasty two day hangover and then I start thinking that a long spell on kava is a good idea!
 
Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
Question...

Kava hasn't been hitting me the same the past week or so for some reason, I don't seem to be getting as much out of it.

Is it possible to get weak batches? I've been unwell so maybe that's why. Also I've been put on some new medication which could be interfering with it.

It's still been good just not quite as strong.

Answer...

It's definitely a fickle thing! Almost certainly it's not a bad batch and I'm not just saying that because it's me that sold it to you! :) . I've had plenty of periods where I have felt as though it just hasn't been working as well as I thought it should and I always come out the other side sooner or later.

The same as reverse tolerance is a thing for new users, it's also the case that you are going to go through periods where it just doesn't work the same. Fortunately they are not very often and I have found the best way round them is super dosing. 50g is a fair size dose for me with most kavas, spread over 4 doses. If I hit a wall like you have then I will make up a batch with 200g into 4 doses and smash them as quickly as possible (can take a while!) and then after a few days that usually breaks the back of it and I can then drop back to my usual amount.
 
Krunked up Tong

Krunked up Tong

Kava Enthusiast
Edward said:
Question...

Kava hasn't been hitting me the same the past week or so for some reason, I don't seem to be getting as much out of it.

Is it possible to get weak batches? I've been unwell so maybe that's why. Also I've been put on some new medication which could be interfering with it.

It's still been good just not quite as strong.

Answer...

It's definitely a fickle thing! Almost certainly it's not a bad batch and I'm not just saying that because it's me that sold it to you! :) . I've had plenty of periods where I have felt as though it just hasn't been working as well as I thought it should and I always come out the other side sooner or later.

The same as reverse tolerance is a thing for new users, it's also the case that you are going to go through periods where it just doesn't work the same. Fortunately they are not very often and I have found the best way round them is super dosing. 50g is a fair size dose for me with most kavas, spread over 4 doses. If I hit a wall like you have then I will make up a batch with 200g into 4 doses and smash them as quickly as possible (can take a while!) and then after a few days that usually breaks the back of it and I can then drop back to my usual amount.
Click to expand...
Hahaha, wonder who asked you that one :ROFLMAO:

I have a feeling I'm gonna have a good kava session today, I can feel it. The Gold arrived by the way, thanks for that!
 
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