Making fresh kava

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi everyone, i thought since there are some of you that have gotten some fresh frozen kava root that I would post some instructions on how to make the kava drink using fresh root. This was prepared by a friend of mine, Ed. I hope that this is useful. Aloha.

Chris

 

[TidyMinion]

Hi everyone, i thought since there are some of you that have gotten some fresh frozen kava root that I would post some instructions on how to make the kava drink using fresh root. This was prepared by a friend of mine, Ed. I hope that this is useful. Aloha.

Chris

Something that caught my eye was the line about freezing may increase kavalactones since it breaks down the root/stump further as it freezes. Do you think it would help us get more kavalactones out later if we first freeze root powder then use the traditional method for making the drink? Or, because the grind quality is different from fresh frozen is the root/stump already broken down enough for optimal kavalactone extraction? As always, thanks for any info!

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Nice!

 

[punahele]

I think Ed told me he found a new favorite blender. It was something of an infomercial called the "ninja" or something? He was pretty pumped at how good it worked!

 

[HeadHodge]

I found the most challenging part of prepping my Kava root was getting it to grind properly. I tried my blender but got a root chip stuck in the blades and broke it.

So I bought a cheapo food processor, but had the same problem, until I figured out how to use a slicer attachment that came with it. It successfully sliced the root chips into thin wafer like pieces that the regular blades of the food processor could handle.

I then added some hot water to keep the mix suspended (in the water) and that helped the processor to chop it up even more.

No way I'm going to buy an industrial grinder, so any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[infraredz]

Maybe I'm just lazy, but I love just chewing on the fresh root and kinda using it like chewing tobacco (bad analogy, but the only one I can think of). That way, I can chew the very nice rootlets "as needed" and sort of "titrate" my "dose".

One day, when I'm not on all the ridiculous meds I'm on that prohibit me from having kava [], I'm going to do the "chew and spit" with the rest of my fresh frozen and have a nice bowl of masticated kava/saliva. Mmmmm

 

[The Kap'n]

Hey Mr Hodge, are you letting the root thaw first, or are you blending it frozen? My food processor, with a little coercing chops it up to look exactly like paradise kava's root that's been processed. I think the trick is thawing it, getting it cut down to small enough pieces, and putting enough in there that when it sticks to the walls it pulls itself down.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Tanna style: chop, chew, spit, strain, squeeze, drink, revel in the glory ?

 

[violet]

@HeadHodge Thanks for the heads up, sorry your blender got damaged. I always forget I have a "dry" container, which has blades that push the mix up rather than pulling it down into the blades. I will be much more likely now to remember using this container in the future!

 

[HeadHodge]

Tanna style: chop, chew, spit, strain, squeeze, drink, revel in the glory ?

HeadHodge style: get someone else to prepare it, then revel in the glory!!!
Haven't found that "someone else" Maybe I'll do a craigs list classified.

 

[HeadHodge]

Hey Mr Hodge, are you letting the root thaw first, or are you blending it frozen? My food processor, with a little coercing chops it up to look exactly like paradise kava's root that's been processed. I think the trick is thawing it, getting it cut down to small enough pieces, and putting enough in there that when it sticks to the walls it pulls itself down.

I've been thawing it, but not cutting it down to smaller pieces. Are you using a saw or a miter or something to do that?

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Something that caught my eye was the line about freezing may increase kavalactones since it breaks down the root/stump further as it freezes. Do you think it would help us get more kavalactones out later if we first freeze root powder then use the traditional method for making the drink? Or, because the grind quality is different from fresh frozen is the root/stump already broken down enough for optimal kavalactone extraction? As always, thanks for any info!

Yes, if you freeze your dry powder it will rupture the cell walls thus releasing more kavalactones.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Deleted User01]

Did I hear right, freezing releases more Kavalactones? Then why wouldn't we all freeze our Kava? Should we freeze it for a day and then it's ready? Or do we freeze and unfreeze it several times to agitate the root? That wouldn't apply to instant, right? How about Micronized?

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Did I hear right, freezing releases more Kavalactones? Then why wouldn't we all freeze our Kava? Should we freeze it for a day and then it's ready? Or do we freeze and unfreeze it several times to agitate the root? That wouldn't apply to instant, right? How about Micronized?

HI Deleted User01, yes you heard right, if you have it in your freezer till it is frozen like a big steak would be frozen then that would have ruptured any cells that had enough moisture still inside, there is some speculation that even if there is no water that the kavalactones themselves will expand like the water and rupture the cells but I have no research on this. Aloha.

Chris

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Nice!

Hay Kavasseur, I was just wondering, in your vast experience with drinking kava, what do you like the best, fresh root or dry powder root?
Aloha nui loa.

Chris

 

[kavadude]

So we should be freezing dried root powder?

 

[Monkava'd]

I love the many directions kava preparation can take; and It really does have the similarity to a fine wine. Where however you so choose to brew it, masticate as per kava or w/e floats your boat, all of these methods provide different degrees of potency; in turn allowing the individual to define what works for them or what methods are more tangible than others.

Though where it tends to differ with kava is what's exactly "safe and sound", more precisely, do they want to deal with more dermopathy by foregoing toss and wash (of course with only noble kava and even with noble I don't wholly consider "safe" ) or do they prefer the more traditional route/root by emulsifying the kavalactones into a solution through kneading.

Okay I know I this type of thing is monotonous, but if you give thought to the developments of these preps undergone from just being on this forum, it's marvelous isn't it?

So here's my point; before these forums there had been all sorts of ideas thrown around with the traditional procedure being the most notable, but now, an assortment of quirky ways work just as well. With dried root and fresh (micronized, instant, medium grind) we have these methods: blender, food processor, rolling pin, toss and wash, traditional knead and strain, french press masticate ect...
All of these employing cold water-warm-hot and boiling, but please use your best judgement with toss and wash; as in, please don't go gargling hot or boiling water .

And finally the incredible formulation of knowledge on tudei/isa as kavas with a "greater ornamental" perspective or not so safe to be consumed. This barely scratches the surface and who would've known when all of this began we'd have come this far.

Chris, great fresh prep, you continue to pique my interest sir.

 

[Hyperion]

Well, holy kava gawds, I am going now to take my kava out of the coffee cupboard and put it in the freezer!

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

So we should be freezing dried root powder?

HI KavaDude, it all depends on the amount of moisture in the kava, the fresh root has a lot of water inside so when it is frozen the water will expand and then rupture the cells releasing more of the kavalactones. If your dry powdered root has a average moisture content of say 10% then i would say about 10% of the cells would rupture. But there is no studies what would measure the kavalactone content of the different moisture contents of the dry kava.
A friend of mine and a member of the Hawaii Aw Council is Dr. Skip Bittenbender. He did a study on how much kavalactones were extracted using different prep methods, I will find that article, i have it around somewhere and then i will post it here.
Let me know if you have any questions, aloha.

Chris

 

[Monkava'd]

A friend of mine and a member of the Hawaii Aw Council is Dr. Skip Bittenbender. He did a study on how much kavalactones were extracted using different prep methods, I will find that article, i have it around somewhere and then i will post it here.
Let me know if you have any questions, aloha.

Chris

Oh I'd really love to see this Chris, because my preparation's really been exorbitant, so I don't expect anyone to take the prep in my Bkh Boroguru review seriously at all simply because of that factor.

My personal goal is to find a proper balance of potency/time stamp for each and every strain I try in order to get all the kavalactones out of the kava, before it becomes an unnecessary waste of effort.