Kava Science Kava Test Results - 12/1/2014

[ApéroNoble]

it would be interesting to get the dom WL of these three and begin an assimilation of both the K/DHM & dom WL side by side for each variety from various vendors, it's not like you've anything to do all day or run a company or anything

 

[verticity]

Interesting, so what does Lebot give as the K/DHM ratio for known two days?
And - do you also get total kavalactones as a percent of the whole root?

 

[verticity]

So it looks like its fair to say K/DHM < 1 is a strong, but not definitive, indication of a tudei. Maybe an even less definitive indication of adulteration. What does "Custom use" mean?

 

[ApéroNoble]

Maybe an even less definitive indication of adulteration.

I personally would call it definitive. There are only a few "exceptions" in the table above, but bear in mind those "use" ratings are purely historical, and not scientific. "Custom" is for occasional or ceremonial use.

definative tudei adulteration of a diminutive degree?

 

[Deleted User01]

@Deleted User, can we get new test results for GHK? I would love to see your results and Lebots results in a huge spreadsheet. The beginning of a master database of all Kavas Worldwide.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

I have isolated a 2Kilo bag of Marang Marang left over from the batch which tested badly. It has been sat in a a corner unsold as we felt it was too old to sell and I stopped myself throwing it out just today as I thought maybe it could be used by Deleted User. Maybe we could send it to be tested. There was a lot of Marang around that time and I drank loads of it and it was fine, and many customers were happy but there was one bag for sure that was bad as we had two forum members, serious Kava drinkers who had negative effects and also the sample I sent to you tested unfavourably. I believe they were all from the same 2 Kilo bag but it would be interesting to test this unopened, airtight bag. What do oyu think Deleted User, would you like to look at it? Maybe then we could ascertain the real issue with that batch.

 

[Deleted User01]

With any kind of food or plant based food, shit happens. It may have some mold or bacteria in it. @Deleted User, can you test for that? Anyway, a big shoutout to GKE for volunteering the information and asking for the test. Like I said, it can happen. I guess there is always the possibility that the farmer had to use other stuff to fill in the last 2 kilos. If that is the case and @Deleted User finds it, then GKE can get after the farmer. This kind of vigilance bodes well for the Kava Industry in the long term.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

With any kind of food or plant based food, shit happens. It may have some mold or bacteria in it. @Deleted User, can you test for that? Anyway, a big shoutout to GKE for volunteering the information and asking for the test. Like I said, it can happen. I guess there is always the possibility that the farmer had to use other stuff to fill in the last 2 kilos. If that is the case and @Deleted User finds it, then GKE can get after the farmer. This kind of vigilance bodes well for the Kava Industry in the long term.

There would be some separation between farmer and the end process of bagging. I think the fault maybe an improperly sealed bag which may have resulted in mould. Could incorrect heat sealing have caused negative effects on the Kava Garry? We still stand by our Tanna suppliers and are open to any possibilities.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

i think i'll have to drink those 2 kilos to really get to the bottom of this

 

[ObiWan]

There would be some separation between farmer and the end process of bagging. I think the fault maybe an improperly sealed bag which may have resulted in mould. Could incorrect heat sealing have caused negative effects on the Kava Garry? We still stand by our Tanna suppliers and are open to any possibilities.

If this is the explaination (and I really hope it is so simple), then it seems that there was more then one bag concerned. Keep in mind: There was also a Marang probe from Noble Kava which was tested with a very similar test result (578,4 - only 0,1 different from the 578,3 for the GKE Marang). Where does sealing of the bags happen? In Vanuatu?

Yes, it could be mould. That would also explain the different taste and smell.

 

[Deleted User01]

My guess is the bag. It only takes a little something in the bag to start a colony. It won't be the first time that happened. It happens with every other type of food on earth. I could tell you the story about the time that I got into a Big old Infested Piece of Chick'Fil'e but I don't want to gross you out. Maybe I can just post all the noises that emanated from my person. Perhaps I could do the same with the bodily fluids. Nawwwww, that's too much even for Friday.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Thanks a lot, @Deleted User !
I am a bit surprised about Hiwa's results as it's a rather heavy, sedating kava for me.
But I am not at all surprised about Nene - this kava can cure even the most hardcore forms of insomnia (disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this is merely my personal opinion .

 

[ObiWan]

How old is the Koniak probe? I am surprised as they still sell this Kava without mentioning that it is Tudei. They only write:

Definitely a kava for more experienced kava connoisseurs, and is not considered a good kava for daily drinking

Is there any Statement from Judd here in this forum about Koniak?

 

[ObiWan]

I can see three different samples of Konika in the Aceton test table, each with a different result. Is the sample for the HPLC test one of these samples? If so, which?

 

[verticity]

How old is the Koniak probe? I am surprised as they still sell this Kava without mentioning that it is Tudei. They only write:

Is there any Statement from Judd here in this forum about Koniak?

Judd stated his opinion about Koniak here:

Every single batch of this kava comes from PNG with an HPLC, and the results are all pretty close. The most recent batch shows a 245xxx (4 & 5 are very close) chemotype, and a fairly low KL content of 6.5% (Usually it's closer to 9%). My views on noble/tudei are constantly evolving. As I've stated before, and recently posted on my website, I feel that there's not really a clear line where one kava is noble, and another is tudei. Some kavas are clearly noble, some are clearly tudei, then there are some that don't quite fit in either category. I think this is one of them. HPLC results point in that direction. User experience does as well. Nausea is no more common with this than most other kavas that people consider noble, and there are more people who feel no extended effects, than those that do. We serve this regularly at the kava bar with great response. It's also our #1 online seller for dry root, which includes more repeat orders than for all other varieties. It got the best rating ever for a dry root kava on the Kavasseuer site, which is a very respected place for unbiased kava reviews.

We don't recommend it for daily use as an official stance really just to keep people from saying, 'Hey, this isn't noble! It shouldn't be drank everyday! You should make that clear!' Honestly, I know scores of people who drink Koniak daily and love it. These include the people in PNG where it grows, kava bar customers, and online customers. It's all about customers making their own choices based on valid information, which we've provided.

Basically he's saying it's not noble, but not tudei either, it's in some kind of grey area, due to the fact that the percentages of KLs 5 (DHM) and 4 (Kavain) are very close, and the anecdotal evidence that it does not cause severe unpleasant effects, like true tudeis are supposed to. Deleted User uses the metric of the ratio of Kavain to DHM as a measurement of nobility. We could call it the "Deleted User Metric" The number correlates very well with the traditional usage in Vanuatu: if it is less than 1 it is almost certainly tudei. Since in Koniak, kavain and DHM can switch places, according to Judd, with different batches--so that sometimes K/DHM is greater than 1, and sometimes it is less than 1-- it actually could be true that Koniak is a rare example of a kava in the grey area between noble and tudei.