Just got some Mo'i Instant, and debated whether I should jump in with it. I've been Mo'i-less for a week now, which is a sad place to be, so I was overcome and prepped some tonight after reading some reviews. I wasn't sure what ratio of instant-to-water to use, so I experimented a little.
Instant? REALLY?
This is the third instant I've tried, and I've had mixed results. The first instant was PK's Cream of Vanuatu, which was very early in my kava journey, tasted terrible (at the time) but dissolved well, did the trick and had very little stomach upset the next day. The second was N@H's Fire Island instant, which tasted horrible (worse than terrible), had moderate effectiveness and twisted me up like a Chinese finger puzzle for a day afterwards. As I learned more about my own body's reaction to kava root fibers and after getting progressively finer and finer filtration devices, I vowed Never Again! with instant, as I simply didn't know how it was prepared. That is until this Mo'i showed up.
Mo'i is at the top of my list for favorites. I blew through half a pound of medium grind in no time flat and Mo'i was the kava that showed me how I could have fun with my drinking friends and still teetotal. It holds a special place in my heart among all the varieties I've tried.
Prep and Drinking
Unfamiliar with this instant, I started with a rounded teaspoon in 4oz of cold water. It dissolved rapidly into the glorious milky drink I've come to love. The smell was a muted version of my own kneaded Mo'i preparations and the taste was almost nonexistent. Gossamer to the silky version I'd had before. Very little bulaface at the end of my shell. I've grown to enjoy kind of rolling the kava around in my mouth a bit after swallowing the bulk of the shell and sussing out the nuances of earth, bitter, pepper and so on. This one is not chalky like the previous instants and there was no grit. Weird. As I rolled it around and pondered over it, I felt like more of it had stayed in my mouth than when I drink the usual strained stuff and so the taste lingered. At first I tasted nothing, then the earth, a little bit of numbing, a dank flavor sort of like mold, but not unpleasant, and no bite at the end.
My second shell was another rounded teaspoon in 4 oz. of cold water. I could feel the kava sensations building slowly. I spaced my shells at 10 minutes, and doubled it to 2 rounded teaspoons for shells #3 and #4. I tend to be a four-shell man. All told, 6 rounded teaspoons to a pint of water.
Onset and Effects
At like 5 minutes after the first shell, I swear I felt something. After the second shell, I noticed the standard kava perceptual shift I get, which is a vaseline-on-the-lens kind of soft-focus effect. This stuff comes on faster than kneaded root. What was particularly interesting was that at 30 minutes I felt some heart pounding and stimulation that I normally don't get after 2 shells. At 40 minutes I was starting to feel eye-lag and pink cheeks and my stimulation was giving way to the gentler feelings I know Mo'i for.
At an hour, I feel scalp-tingling and a euphoric plateau. A nice baseline mental state that's not overly heady or sedating. Maybe I make my kneaded Mo'i root a little stronger, but as this is my first outing with the instant, I'm very satisfied with where I am. I'm not k-dogged and feeling the strong heady giddiness I got with my first kneaded Mo'i outing, but the giddiness is in there. Like the puppy is playing with a ball and tossing it for himself instead of running around in my chest ape-shit and chasing his tail.
EDIT: At 75 minutes I feel like the crescendo is still building!
General Thoughts and Conclusion
I feel like I cheated! My forearms aren't sore from kneading, but I've got a full-swing Mo'i experience underway and I couldn't be more pleased. The tiny little satchel it came in is going to accompany me on outings when I wish I could have some kava when I'm outside the house, and don't want to lug a quart of grog around with me. This is surprisingly strong for an instant kava! I'm not sure how Chris makes this stuff, but I'm sure a pact with the devil was involved in the planning stages, at least. Impressive!
EDIT: 80 minutes in and the face-ruddy cheek-pinkiness is in full bloom. The ringing in my ears is full-on. This is the real deal.
Great stuff! I'm sold.
I'll file a morning-after report tomorrow, and I'd love to hear others' comparative results with Mo'i Instant vs. Mo'i Powdered. Normalized to tbsp and oz, this Mo'i was prepped 2.5:16, where I normally do 8:16 with medium grind.
Instant? REALLY?
This is the third instant I've tried, and I've had mixed results. The first instant was PK's Cream of Vanuatu, which was very early in my kava journey, tasted terrible (at the time) but dissolved well, did the trick and had very little stomach upset the next day. The second was N@H's Fire Island instant, which tasted horrible (worse than terrible), had moderate effectiveness and twisted me up like a Chinese finger puzzle for a day afterwards. As I learned more about my own body's reaction to kava root fibers and after getting progressively finer and finer filtration devices, I vowed Never Again! with instant, as I simply didn't know how it was prepared. That is until this Mo'i showed up.
Mo'i is at the top of my list for favorites. I blew through half a pound of medium grind in no time flat and Mo'i was the kava that showed me how I could have fun with my drinking friends and still teetotal. It holds a special place in my heart among all the varieties I've tried.
Prep and Drinking
Unfamiliar with this instant, I started with a rounded teaspoon in 4oz of cold water. It dissolved rapidly into the glorious milky drink I've come to love. The smell was a muted version of my own kneaded Mo'i preparations and the taste was almost nonexistent. Gossamer to the silky version I'd had before. Very little bulaface at the end of my shell. I've grown to enjoy kind of rolling the kava around in my mouth a bit after swallowing the bulk of the shell and sussing out the nuances of earth, bitter, pepper and so on. This one is not chalky like the previous instants and there was no grit. Weird. As I rolled it around and pondered over it, I felt like more of it had stayed in my mouth than when I drink the usual strained stuff and so the taste lingered. At first I tasted nothing, then the earth, a little bit of numbing, a dank flavor sort of like mold, but not unpleasant, and no bite at the end.
My second shell was another rounded teaspoon in 4 oz. of cold water. I could feel the kava sensations building slowly. I spaced my shells at 10 minutes, and doubled it to 2 rounded teaspoons for shells #3 and #4. I tend to be a four-shell man. All told, 6 rounded teaspoons to a pint of water.
Onset and Effects
At like 5 minutes after the first shell, I swear I felt something. After the second shell, I noticed the standard kava perceptual shift I get, which is a vaseline-on-the-lens kind of soft-focus effect. This stuff comes on faster than kneaded root. What was particularly interesting was that at 30 minutes I felt some heart pounding and stimulation that I normally don't get after 2 shells. At 40 minutes I was starting to feel eye-lag and pink cheeks and my stimulation was giving way to the gentler feelings I know Mo'i for.
At an hour, I feel scalp-tingling and a euphoric plateau. A nice baseline mental state that's not overly heady or sedating. Maybe I make my kneaded Mo'i root a little stronger, but as this is my first outing with the instant, I'm very satisfied with where I am. I'm not k-dogged and feeling the strong heady giddiness I got with my first kneaded Mo'i outing, but the giddiness is in there. Like the puppy is playing with a ball and tossing it for himself instead of running around in my chest ape-shit and chasing his tail.
EDIT: At 75 minutes I feel like the crescendo is still building!
General Thoughts and Conclusion
I feel like I cheated! My forearms aren't sore from kneading, but I've got a full-swing Mo'i experience underway and I couldn't be more pleased. The tiny little satchel it came in is going to accompany me on outings when I wish I could have some kava when I'm outside the house, and don't want to lug a quart of grog around with me. This is surprisingly strong for an instant kava! I'm not sure how Chris makes this stuff, but I'm sure a pact with the devil was involved in the planning stages, at least. Impressive!
EDIT: 80 minutes in and the face-ruddy cheek-pinkiness is in full bloom. The ringing in my ears is full-on. This is the real deal.
Great stuff! I'm sold.
I'll file a morning-after report tomorrow, and I'd love to hear others' comparative results with Mo'i Instant vs. Mo'i Powdered. Normalized to tbsp and oz, this Mo'i was prepped 2.5:16, where I normally do 8:16 with medium grind.
Good choice on the instant Moi. You can experience kava without the bad taste and that's a plus for a Newbie. You may or may not experience reverse tolerance so be patient. Regardless, you should still sleep good on your first batch.
