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Instant Kava Review Kava Kwik

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
The first kava I bought and tried was Kava Kauai's Vanuatu Waka and having tried many different kavas since then and revisiting it I have come to realise that it is actually a very nice kava. Having read the reviews posted here I was expecting the instant from Kava Kauai to be a lot better than I found it. I'm not sure if something has changed in the production process of this instant since those reviews were posted but I have to say I was quite disappointed.

The powder itself has a similar look and feel to Paradise Kava's Cream of Vanuatu, that very fine, almost creaminess to the powder. It is quite a bit darker than COV and seems to have a lot more lumps in the powder that need breaking down.

I mixed 3 heaped teaspoons or approx. 1 heaped tablespoon into 200 ml (6 to 7 oz of water) and mixed well in a shaker bottle.

The first thing that hits you is the taste. The Vanuatu waka is quite a strongly flavoured, bitter, peppery kava but I seem to be able to cope with that reasonably well. The instant on the other hand I found really difficult to get down. It didn't make me gag as such but I just did not enjoy the process of drinking it so much as I do with most kavas (I know, I like the taste, call me odd). I managed to get the mixture down and sat back and waited for something to happen. And waited. And waited.

After 5 mins or so I could feel very slight effects, nothing too spectacular. After 30 mins nothing had really hit me so I had another 2 heaped teaspoons in 150 ml of water and chugged that too. 40 to 50 mins after my first dose I did start to feel some effects. Usually a tablespoon of instant will have a much better effect than this, Instant Green, Cream of Vanuatu and Quick Kava (GKE) all have varying effects at this dose with COV being the strongest but the Kava Kwik didn't start to give me any major effects until the second dose. Thinking back I would say that the peppery taste did give quite a numbing sensation so I am surprised that didn't translate into a more pronounced effect.

An hour after my first dose I would say that I felt extremely mild effects and quite balanced between heady and heavy but mild, really mild. I didn't have nausea as such but due to the taste my stomach was not as happy as it could have been so if I had to up the dose to get more effects I can definitely imagine if not nausea then some pronounced gassiness and discomfort from chugging the brew.

This is not the first time I have tried this instant but I didn't want to review it on the first use in case it was me being odd on the night but after my second attempt with this I can honestly say that I wouldn't recommend this kava to anyone for any purpose. I hate to say this too but mostly because of my nostalgia/loyalty to kava Kauai for being the first vendor that I used.

I will definitely try this kava a few more times and update this thread with my further experiences, good or bad, but in the meantime my honest verdict is : avoid :-(
 

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
Just to follow up with after/next morning effects... I had a really hard time eating after this kava and the next morning I still felt not right. I wouldn't go so far as to say this is tudei but for me it gave me negligible pleasant effects on the evening of drinking this kava and enough negative effects on the evening of drinking and also the next morning to convince me that this is not a good kava for me for whatever reason. I would be interested to hear other peoples opinions?
 

Skitty

Kava Enthusiast
Both times I tried this Kava, I threw up. I added 1 teaspoon in a full 8 oz of water so I wasn't overdoing it.
 
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