Kava shots, versus other preps.

[Plantacious]

I have attempted to make my own kava, using just about every major prep method possible : Kneading in cheesecloth, Blender, Metal strainer, Aluball.
The quality is usually just "okay" to be honest. Not great, but not bad. So I just "tolerate" it much of the time.

Then I tried some of these marketed kava shots, that are prepackaged, pre-prepared, liquid kava in the little plastic 2 oz bottles, with flavored, concentrated kava beverage. I was amazed at the difference between that and my kava. When I drank it and got the effects ; I said to myself, this is what kava is supposed to be like : what it's supposed to taste like, and the effects I'm supposed to get. All this time, I thought it was my metabolism that was not over-friendly to kava, unlike some people who got great effects.

But I got really good effects from these kava shots. Which beckons the question, "what am I doing wrong" when I make it myself ?
I have repeatedly and carefully followed all the instructions that all the "veteran" kava drinkers recommended, and even modified my recipe in multiple ways to make it stronger, but yet all my efforts to make it stronger only made the negative effects stronger, and not the positive effects, at all.

My effects from my kava are weak, and extremely short-lived, and if I don't keep up a constant fast pace of consuming it, then the effects quickly fade. And often-times, the negative effects outweigh the positive ones for me. Again, I feel like I'm just tolerating it, instead of enjoying it.

But it can't be my metabolism if I get pleasing effects from the kava shots. I must be doing it wrong !
What could I be doing wrong, or what can I do to make my kave more like the stuff in kava shots ?

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I feel kava every moment of every day and have now for years. The noticeable effects immediately after drinking good root are different from the kava effects the rest of the time.

 

[Plantacious]

So tonight I made it a brand new way, that I've never done before.
I used the boiling method made famous by GHK.
It was better than the other methods of self-prep I tried.
Chris is right. You can't destroy kavalectones by boiling.
I know this, because not only was it effective. But these were makas that were used and washed numerous times.
After 3 washes in an Aluball, and then the blender and a metal strainer, and then kneading in a cheesecloth - all of this was the same batch of kava - that's what I used for a boiling prep.
One might think there was nothing of value left, after all those preps, but there sure was, as I found out through boiling.
Not as good as the kava shots I described in my first post, but still good.

 

[Jacob Bula]

With a pre packaged shot you are getting an extract. It is probably going to be stronger, while losing some of the magic of the synergistic effects of the traditional prep. Kava is supposed to be short lived and a moderate effect. Those "cons" are also its "pros". If it was really strong and lasted a really long time, it would be addictive in some way or another. It's one of the many ways the plant self regulates its consumption. It's wonderful.