Lengthening the Kava Session

[BobBriggs]

I love the effects of kava, especially the mood boost/euphoria. However, it is always a little frustrating how short lived What I find are the best effects are. For me they barely last beyond the last shell of a session.

Anyone have any advice for enjoying kava over an extended period, maybe 4 hours+ (without just adding more and more root or diluting the brew hugely)?

 

[AlexisReal]

I love the effects of kava, especially the mood boost/euphoria. However, it is always a little frustrating how short lived What I find are the best effects are. For me they barely last beyond the last shell of a session.

Anyone have any advice for enjoying kava over an extended period, maybe 4 hours+ (without just adding more and more root or diluting the brew hugely)?

I concur exactly with your feelings on this. That is actually the one thing I would "edit" about kava lol! Besides the nausea effect that my own weak digestive sytem is personally prone to, in order to reach the top of my Kava Eiffel tower!

I too, love that initial, kavain rushy euphoria.

I know K@ is fairly scorned upon by the dedicated kava community, for a large part, and in numerous ways, justifiably so. K@ has some specific "per se" negative aspects, as I see it. Namely, physical dependancy and severe withdrawal potential, I learnt frist hand the hard way last September (2019) before I had ever even tried kava, with a cold turkey stop after only 4 weeks daily use, up to 13 grams.

It was an exceptionally unpleasant 4-5 day withdrawal experience.

But what I did particularly anjoy about K@, is the sheer longevity and stability of the positive, euphoric, anxiolytic, mood boosting effects.

Like 4-6 hours without noticeably dropping off.

With kava however, the specific cultivar and chemotype can make a difference.

Certain heavier kavas, like heavy fijian Kadavu or Koro for example, can have a longer lasting, more stable effect.

I always mix my different cultivars up each day too,,creatimg a synergistic effect, both heavy and headies, depending on what I fancy.

But I will often use a top up of instant kava, or a last, remaining strong shell, when my kava effect has dropped off some, mostly when I don't eat for over 1.5 hours after my last shell.

This usually kicks the kava positive mood lift and euphoria back up again nicely. Like, allowing the effect to taper down after a nice session, then a single good shell pumps it back up again before I do eat.

Otherwise, I find you can push the boat a bit with your consumption level, and the effect plateaus out after a longer while, and following the session up with warm, fatty spicy food within a certain time frame can also kick the effects back up I find.

Some cultivars just also last longer, heady or heavy too. So it's worth trying a variety. I found Kavatime's Gourmet Savusavu to have a surprisingly long lasting effect compared to some others.

 

[Edward]

I would say maybe try some heavier kavas. A heady kava will be more euphoric but the effects are going to be more short lived whereas something with a good kick of heavy KL's is going to stay with you a lot longer. I always feel it into the next day.

 

[BobBriggs]

Thanks for the advice. I'm keen to try different cultivars. I'm not sure I have ever had a definitively heavy or heady kava. At the moment all I can get I mediocre, I think, nondescript Tongan kava in zip-lock bags, sold by people on Facebook marketplace. Hopefully when the travel ban ends here some vendors, like Wakavnavu, will return who sell specific cultivars.

 

[Edward]

Thanks for the advice. I'm keen to try different cultivars. I'm not sure I have ever had a definitively heavy or heady kava. At the moment all I can get I mediocre, I think, nondescript Tongan kava in zip-lock bags, sold by people on Facebook marketplace. Hopefully when the travel ban ends here some vendors, like Wakavnavu, will return who sell specific cultivars.

Looking at their site I would say definitely go with the Kadavu. Everything else there is going to be heady. Kadavu (along with Koro Island) kavas are amongst my favourites of all. I love heavy Fijian kavas with that dark, almost cocoa or chocolate like taste and smell. That's not going to give you quite the same kavain kick of euphoria but they still do give you a pleasant up feeling before sliding you into some serious sedation. I only drink heavy kavas these days, not even bothering with balanced so much any more. They do exactly what I need in terms of replacing alcohol and making sure I sleep the sleep of the kava ancients! You should find that the effects last a lot longer anyway, kavain is quick in and quick out but a kava with more DHK and DHM is going to stay with you and cuddle you to one of those long, black, dreamless sleeps. I slept 9 hours the other day without stirring.

 

[AlexisReal]

Looking at their site I would say definitely go with the Kadavu. Everything else there is going to be heady. Kadavu (along with Koro Island) kavas are amongst my favourites of all. I love heavy Fijian kavas with that dark, almost cocoa or chocolate like taste and smell. That's not going to give you quite the same kavain kick of euphoria but they still do give you a pleasant up feeling before sliding you into some serious sedation. I only drink heavy kavas these days, not even bothering with balanced so much any more. They do exactly what I need in terms of replacing alcohol and making sure I sleep the sleep of the kava ancients! You should find that the effects last a lot longer anyway, kavain is quick in and quick out but a kava with more DHK and DHM is going to stay with you and cuddle you to one of those long, black, dreamless sleeps. I slept 9 hours the other day without stirring.

You gonna love that Koro when it's cropped Edward. Lovely stuff.

The Kavadepot Vanuatu Waka is very potent too in my book. Not overly heady either.