Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Kava getting old?

K

kl.hunghung.sustainedreaction

Kava Curious
Hi all,

i'm pretty new to Kava, at least regarding the actual intake of it :)

To make long talk short: Does Kava get old? Or, maybe, how long can it be stored without going "bad" or "useless"?

I have this (ex) pound of Stone Kava from Nakamal, which i ordered ... i'd say at least 5 years ago, and since obtaining fresh kava looks a little bit like a problem, i decided to give this old stuff a try when i finally dared to test it in "normal" doses (earlier tries with maximum safety ambitions - so, just pinches chewed, gave me a rather strange feeling). Now, it still seems to work, but i wonder, is "this" all or what to expect from fresh material, if i ever receive some.

So, hope i didn't bother too much with my previous posts - i'm pretty much meleed (?) between enthusiasm (i think i really like it), scepticism (not sure what to expect regarding that liver toxicity hype) and anger (legal situation where i live) - but, if i did, forgive me, if you can ...
 
K

kl.new2kava

Kava Enthusiast
Like any other substance it will lose potency and and flavor over time. This is a process of the kavalactones breaking down as well as the terpins and flavanoids. I'm not sure what they will break down to and and exactly what the curve looks for metabolite deterioration, it's definatly some type of expotential time function just unsure of the numbers. I'd say that 5 years is total overkill though. I imagine that once it sits for over a year it begins to break down. Perhaps it was vacume sealed and even oxygen purged to prevent oxidation this would give a much longer life, but if the bag was opened once it would have been exposed to; oxygen, nitrogen, c02, and all the bacteria and dust mites that float around in the air we breath and then being left for years to react with these said elements would likely explain the change in structure.
 
K

kl.CarolinaBC

Kava Enthusiast
If it was me I'd keep it and add a tablespoon or two to each new batch I made.  It would probably go real good with some of the higher kavain types (V3 from KBR and Fu from BKH).
 
Buddhacide

Buddhacide

Kava Enthusiast
I have had some in my freezer for around 3 years, and its quite good. Not sure if its gotten weaker though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top