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Powdered Kava Review Kava Vinaka Waka

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
Potent taste. Potent effects.

Overall: 4/5
Would order again.
Potency: 4.5/5
Mind: 4.5/5
Body: 4/5
Anxiety Relief: 3/5
Sedative: 4/5
Taste: Dank, piney peppery insanity.

It's a medium grind with a few bigger chunks mixed in. Very dark. Looks like pure waka. The few bigger chunks had that distinctive lateral root cross section, not found in chunks of lewena. Smells like turpentine, but the effects are decidedly Fijian... just very strong.

Made 3 double-balled AluBall shakers over the course of 2 hours and was staggering around in a happy fog. I pushed the kava intake on purpose to see if any negative effects would come up, and it was clean.
Bright lights hurt? Yes.
Double vision? No.
Nausea? No.
Did it kick again 3 hours later when i ate dinner? Hell yes.
Did I have vivid dreams? Yes. Sexy ones, even.
Next day hangover? Nope.
 

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Taste: Dank, piney peppery insanity.
Is that what I call "piney" like the KWK Borogu? A whole lot of kavas have that now in greater or lesser degree, including off the scale. I find it doesn't affect the affects but it can be hard to drink straight up so I blend with lawena down to the point where it is more palatable. I think it would be a shame to reject the benefits of a good kava just because of the pinyness, so this works for me. Works with soapiness, too. Lawena is a true blessing. Doesn't even have to be good lawena, just decent mild lawena.
 

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
Is that what I call "piney" like the KWK Borogu? A whole lot of kavas have that now in greater or lesser degree, including off the scale. I find it doesn't affect the affects but it can be hard to drink straight up so I blend with lawena down to the point where it is more palatable. I think it would be a shame to reject the benefits of a good kava just because of the pinyness, so this works for me. Works with soapiness, too. Lawena is a true blessing. Doesn't even have to be good lawena, just decent mild lawena.
Sometimes piney is just a sign that it's pure waka. Other times, especially if the powder is lighter in color, it can be a sign that there's something less than noble going on.

Compare something like Taveuni's Secret or Squanch Waka: dark and piney. .... versus, say, Solomons or Stone: medium brown, clearly contains lewena, yet it's still got that aroma of floor cleaner.

tl;dr- If the kava looks dark and is a pure waka, pine smell is to be expected. If the kava is a blonde shade with a healthy portion of crown chips, too much piney smell can be a sign of tudei.
 

ThePiper

Kava Lover
Anyone looked into the "wonderlands" lab results on their chart or know the integrity of that lab?
 

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
Anyone looked into the "wonderlands" lab results on their chart or know the integrity of that lab?
Ehhh... that lab is owned and operated by Keith Cleversley. I don't trust it terribly much to be honest.

That being said, Kava Vinaka just seems to be a customer who's local to their San Diego lab location.
 
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