Make kava from used kava?

[Krusty McKava]

Anyone ever reuse kava powder after it can't be squeezed anymore? What do y'all do with your chunky kava leftovers? There's got to be a way to get more out of it!

So I have this bag of totally spent root powder (4x used!) that's just staring me in the face screaming "I'M STILL FULL OF TONS OF ACTUAL KAVA ROOT. Y U NO DRINK ME??"

So I've been thinking: squeezing kava powder in a mesh bag into water just forces super fine particles into the water and into suspension. From what I understand, with the traditional method, you don't really 'brew' kava like tea, extracting the volatile compounds into a tincture. It's just a suspension of solids. You're just filtering out the finest powder and ingesting it; you're not extracting chemicals out of the kava itself. Right? Making a lot of assumptions here...bear with me.

Doesn't that mean that the rest of the leftover powder is just as full of lactones, but just can't make it through the sieve into the water? As in, if you grind up the used root into fine powder, won't it be just as potent again? In theory you could just keep on grinding and ingesting the stuff until it's all gone!

I'm about to blend a few tablespoons of it into water and see what happens. I just feel like what a potential waste to throw it all away. Am I crazy?

 

[Mr. Kava]

I tried this about 2 weeks ago.

I spread out the kava root sludge onto a plate, and let dry for 2 days. Then took the dried sludge, broke it up, and ground it into a powder with a mortar and pestle.

I put one teaspoon of this into one cup of water and chugged.

After that, I drank a few shells of standard prep medium grind waka.

i definitely had about 30 min of really heavy krunk going on. However, I also experienced some heavy nausea for the next 4 hrs.

 

[Mr. Kava]

So my advice would be to take some antinausea precautions- candied ginger or ginger powder, food, etc.

 

[Krusty McKava]

Woah man, mortar and pestle work is tedious! That's dedication right there. And good advice if you're drinking the whole powder. I was too chicken to do that. I just poured the blended mess back into my strainer bag and did some kneading. The blender definitely broke it down to a much finer pulp...but at 6 tbsp used powder to 3 cups water, even after blending for like 5 minutes, it's still nowhere near fresh kava.

Still, I'm feeling it! This is promising!

 

[Bubba Bula]

I don't know. My second wash is always much weaker than the first. I'm really skeptical about getting any more out of it. However, perhaps the boiling method of kava prep might yield better results than squeezing.

 

[BULABUCK]

I have also done this but it was one of those months of being out of kava and i knew it was coming. I saved everything. I dried the sludge and used it as instant .....I also rewashed all my kava it works ok. But it's pretty groddie. I think the best way would just to always second wash ur kava and then dry the sludge and blend in water with old root material. Squeeze longer strain and drink making sure u went further to extract all the lactones

 

[kavadude]

So I've been thinking: squeezing kava powder in a mesh bag into water just forces super fine particles into the water and into suspension. From what I understand, with the traditional method, you don't really 'brew' kava like tea, extracting the volatile compounds into a tincture. It's just a suspension of solids. You're just filtering out the finest powder and ingesting it; you're not extracting chemicals out of the kava itself. Right? Making a lot of assumptions here...bear with me.

Kava root contains resins which are suspended in the water during extraction. Some fine particulate matter will inevitably end up in the water, but a good water extraction should pull a lot of kavalactones and very little solid matter.

It's true that water extraction will never get all the kavalactones out, the issue is that there are other things in the root matter that cause indigestion, nausea and other side effects, hence the straining.

 

[Krusty McKava]

Kava root contains resins which are suspended in the water during extraction. Some fine particulate matter will inevitably end up in the water, but a good water extraction should pull a lot of kavalactones and very little solid matter.

It's true that water extraction will never get all the kavalactones out, the issue is that there are other things in the root matter that cause indigestion, nausea and other side effects, hence the straining.

Yeah, see, I was thinking that might be the case. It makes sense. So it's not all about ingesting actual root as much as it is about the resin? The lame thing about that is there's only a finite amount of resin on the root! Dang, so there's a limit to this. Stuff is just so expensive.

Bulabuck how was that old sludge kava? Weak?

 

[kavadude]

You could make sure you're doing the best with your water extractions.

I usually make mine with a rolling pin in a ziploc bag for about 10 minutes, then repeat a second wash for 5 minutes. (I have no idea why, but the "second wash" does seem to help).

If you do it well, your kava should be really dry and crumbly at the end.

 

[BULABUCK]

I also think that if u squeeze good the first time toss it . I think one use is good idk if they reuse it inthe islands I doubt it. Maybe just guessing though.

 

[Megan]

You could make sure you're doing the best with your water extractions.

I usually make mine with a rolling pin in a ziploc bag for about 10 minutes, then repeat a second wash for 5 minutes. (I have no idea why, but the "second wash" does seem to help).

If you do it well, your kava should be really dry and crumbly at the end.

Have you made a video of this? I tried the other night and it totally did not work at all lol.

 

[kavadude]

I have no kava, I'll make a video when I get some.

The trick is to use the correct amount of water (remember you can always add water but you can't take it out), and second, lay the bag down carefully with it still slightly open, hold up the opening, and use the rolling pin to roll all the air out before sealing it completely. Then roll the heck out of it.

 

[blindy107]

My Samoan homeboys do this. They leave the makas in the sun to dry and then knead and strain a second time. I just use smaller amounts of water repeatedly until it's pretty clear then toss it. Usually 3 washes worth.

 

[nabanga]

As kavadude said, you're getting your kavalactones from a suspension of them in water, and not for the most part from fine ground kava root particles, if you have seived properly. The aim is to strain all these solid particles out, which is practically impossible - you always get fines that settle out.
I've always found re-using the worked kava (the "makas") to produce a second mix so weak that it's not worth it, but I do understand you wanting to get as much as possible for your $$.
The only time anyone in Vanuatu or western Polynesia reworks the makas is in desparate times when supplies are running very low, which very rarely happens.

 

[avahZ]

After my first wash I toss it in the freezer. Seems the freezing process breaks loose more of the kavalactones. Prolly breaks open more cellular wall structure. Never as good as the first, but great in a pinch. Just don't let it sit too long, it can get that freezer burned flavor.

 

[VictoryRider]

I used to always do 2 washes from the same root. The first wash was nice and strong, as expected. The 2nd wash, I'd use about half the water,
maybe a little more, and let the root sit for an hour or so, (or overnight), then squeeze it good and hard again.

The 2nd batch was weaker than the first, but not hugely weaker, since I used less water. Kept the 2nd squeezings in a SS water
bottle in the fridge for when I needed to take the edge off but not want (or have time for) a full kava evening.

Lately I've just been drinking micronized Moi and Mahakea, so no 2nd washings! Man, I *love* that stuff.

 

[Krusty McKava]

So the consensus is: couple washes and toss it. I knew my thinking was too good to be true.

Lots of good ideas though, thanks all. I'm fairly new to this kava thing but I've been doing at least 2, if not 3 washes with much less water and getting somewhat workable drink every time. I guess I could do three washes up front and combine them, because it sounds like I'm not really doing a great extraction to begin with. Not sure if I want to break out the rolling pin but that might be worth a shot. I'm a purist by nature, so traditional hand-squeezing is my thing. I should just do it for 20 minutes instead of 10.

My Samoan homeboys do this. They leave the makas in the sun to dry and then knead and strain a second time. I just use smaller amounts of water repeatedly until it's pretty clear then toss it. Usually 3 washes worth.

I've got the rest of this old stuff drying now, just for fun. We'll see. I know it's not totally tapped but yeah, it's not what it was when it was fresh. Too bad I'm not in the islands where I'd have a constant fresh supply from a nearby farm...so I didn't have to be so stingy.

 

[August West]

I posted a thread a while back called, "in the name of science. . I used to save all of my spent root in the freezer until I was out. One day I tossed and washed something like 12 heaping tablespoons over a rather short period of time. The last few TBS I thought for sure were going to come back up due to the texture aversion.

To simply put it, if your prep game is solid, and you do 2-3 washes, it's not worth the bubble-guts you'll get from TnW

 

[Krusty McKava]

I posted a thread a while back called, "in the name of science. . I used to save all of my spent root in the freezer until I was out. One day I tossed and washed something like 12 heaping tablespoons over a rather short period of time. The last few TBS I thought for sure were going to come back up due to the texture aversion.

To simply put it, if your prep game is solid, and you do 2-3 washes, it's not worth the bubble-guts you'll get from TnW

Perfect, you did the ..."research" so the rest of us don't have to. That's awesome to hear. The more I experiment the less I want to save the spent stuff. You're damn right about getting the prep down. That's the key.