RobbW
Will: "You cheated." Me: "Pirate!"
I received my very first bag of kava this past Saturday. I ordered 1lb of Tongan Pouni Ono by Kalm With Kava. Here is the prep method I used while experimenting over the weekend:
1. Mix 25g of kava with 500g of 190° water and 1Tb of coconut oil. Let soak and rest for 5 minutes. (I'm using the coconut oil as an emulsifier.)
2. Blend for a total of 2-3 minutes in my NutriNinja Pro extraction blender. This blender is great and is able to pulverize pretty much anything I put in it.
3. Strain the liquid through a standard wire strainer to remove the pulp. Used the back of a spoon to press as much liquid out of this pulp as possible.
4. Chilled the kava liquid in the fridge.
This prep produced a liquid that was relatively thick and creamy. The color, texture, and consistency reminded me of Bailey's Irish Cream. The flavor most definitely did NOT remind me of Bailey's! While I've been able to acclimate myself to and enjoy the flavor of many bitter-tasting beverages in the past (coffee, beer, scotch, etc.), I don't know that this is a flavor I could ever actually enjoy.
Now, for my consumption. What I did was pour 125g of the kava liquid into a glass, chug it, and then immediately chase it with root beer without taking a breath. Of the different chasers I tried, root beer seemed to be the best to me for masking the strong, bitter, Earthy aftertaste of kava. I think I consumed about 3-4 of these servings Saturday night and another 3-4 servings Sunday night. After each serving, I could immediately feel the numbing sensation of the kava on my tongue and in the back of my throat. After 10-15 minutes, I could swear I was able to feel some sort of overall calming effect come over me. However, I am almost positive this was purely a psychosomatic placebo effect, as I've experienced this before with other things that I "SOOOOOO" wanted to work.
Anyway, that was my experience over the weekend. Maybe something there? But most likely not. Either way, I went with it and decided to continue daily consumption until I could be sure I was experiencing the effects of kava. My plan was to use this kind of medicinally. Slowly ramping up my dosage over the course of a week or two as a doctor would have you do with a new medication. I decided I would take a 125g serving in the morning and then maybe 2-3 125g servings in the evening.
Well, that was my plan. Monday morning, I chugged a 125g serving followed by a root beer back. On my 30-minute commute into work, I started to feel slightly queasy. By the time I got into work and for the rest of the day, I felt really queasy. So much so I had considered going home sick. I sucked it up and made it through the day. However, after getting home and making dinner for the family last night, I had to go and lay down for the rest of the evening. It seriously felt like I had a major hangover after a night of heavy drinking. I have not felt like this since I quit drinking 4+ years ago!
Is it possible I somehow overdid it with the kava? It doesn't sound like the amounts I was consuming were all that great, especially compared to what I read others recommending. Is it possible my method of preparation was extracting more out of the kava than the traditional method? Maybe my extraction blending method was pulverizing more of the root and I was consuming too much of that? I don't know. All I know was that I felt pretty yucky all day yesterday, and now I'm very hesitant to try kava again if that's the kind of effect it is going to have on me.
Thoughts?
1. Mix 25g of kava with 500g of 190° water and 1Tb of coconut oil. Let soak and rest for 5 minutes. (I'm using the coconut oil as an emulsifier.)
2. Blend for a total of 2-3 minutes in my NutriNinja Pro extraction blender. This blender is great and is able to pulverize pretty much anything I put in it.
3. Strain the liquid through a standard wire strainer to remove the pulp. Used the back of a spoon to press as much liquid out of this pulp as possible.
4. Chilled the kava liquid in the fridge.
This prep produced a liquid that was relatively thick and creamy. The color, texture, and consistency reminded me of Bailey's Irish Cream. The flavor most definitely did NOT remind me of Bailey's! While I've been able to acclimate myself to and enjoy the flavor of many bitter-tasting beverages in the past (coffee, beer, scotch, etc.), I don't know that this is a flavor I could ever actually enjoy.
Now, for my consumption. What I did was pour 125g of the kava liquid into a glass, chug it, and then immediately chase it with root beer without taking a breath. Of the different chasers I tried, root beer seemed to be the best to me for masking the strong, bitter, Earthy aftertaste of kava. I think I consumed about 3-4 of these servings Saturday night and another 3-4 servings Sunday night. After each serving, I could immediately feel the numbing sensation of the kava on my tongue and in the back of my throat. After 10-15 minutes, I could swear I was able to feel some sort of overall calming effect come over me. However, I am almost positive this was purely a psychosomatic placebo effect, as I've experienced this before with other things that I "SOOOOOO" wanted to work.
Anyway, that was my experience over the weekend. Maybe something there? But most likely not. Either way, I went with it and decided to continue daily consumption until I could be sure I was experiencing the effects of kava. My plan was to use this kind of medicinally. Slowly ramping up my dosage over the course of a week or two as a doctor would have you do with a new medication. I decided I would take a 125g serving in the morning and then maybe 2-3 125g servings in the evening.
Well, that was my plan. Monday morning, I chugged a 125g serving followed by a root beer back. On my 30-minute commute into work, I started to feel slightly queasy. By the time I got into work and for the rest of the day, I felt really queasy. So much so I had considered going home sick. I sucked it up and made it through the day. However, after getting home and making dinner for the family last night, I had to go and lay down for the rest of the evening. It seriously felt like I had a major hangover after a night of heavy drinking. I have not felt like this since I quit drinking 4+ years ago!
Is it possible I somehow overdid it with the kava? It doesn't sound like the amounts I was consuming were all that great, especially compared to what I read others recommending. Is it possible my method of preparation was extracting more out of the kava than the traditional method? Maybe my extraction blending method was pulverizing more of the root and I was consuming too much of that? I don't know. All I know was that I felt pretty yucky all day yesterday, and now I'm very hesitant to try kava again if that's the kind of effect it is going to have on me.
Thoughts?
Honestly, I can't remember the last time I drank a can of sody pop.
