Most heady kavas
- Thread starter jim lahey
- Start date
Take a look through here and you can see many examples.
http://kavaforums.com/forum/forums/frequent-kava-questions.240/
love2driveinct
Kava Enthusiast
I thought someone mentioned that there is a chart on here somewhere that listed the types and their effects, but I can't find it. I did check the above link, but nothing jumps out at me. I think the OP and I would both benefit from this chart. Please let us know if you know where it is. Thanks!
Yes, the product reference bar, it is on the home page, on the right-middle of the page, found between users online and announcements.
love2driveinct
Kava Enthusiast
Ok, thank you. I see that now. I don't know what those numbers mean, though. Is there a code to decipher what each digit means or something?
kastom_lif
Kava Lover
The chemotype numbers? That's a way to rank the relative amount of the six major kavalactones.
1: desmethoxyangonin (DMY)
2: dihydrokavain (DHK)
3: yangonin (Y)
4: kavain (K)
5: dihydromethysticin (DHM)
6: methysticin (M)
Kava with lots of kavain will tend to be heady. So look for chemotypes that start with a 4. Another thing to bear in mind, chemotypes are only the relative amount of kavalactones.
One 426xxx kava might have a breakdown of 3% kavain, 2.9% dihydrokavain, and 2.8% methysticin. Another 426xxx kava might have 8% kavain, 3% dihydrokavain and 2% methysticin. The first one will feel more balanced (or even heavy after the kavain wears off). The second one will feel headier--even with the same chemotype.
Reading the reviews is helpful. Everybody responds differently. Over time you might find certain reviewers that have similar opinions to your own, which can help you figure out how a new kava will feel.
Last edited:
Krunkie McKrunkface
Kava Connoisseur
That's for sure. For me the headiest kava, or at least the most psychotropic, is nambawan, but I don't even think it is considered by people to be a heady kava, is it? All I know is a triple ball of nambawan and I am euphoric and having a nice chat with the ghost of Sun Ra. I find more and more that headiness is often as much a matter of prep as it is the inherent properties of the specific grind, e.g. later washes are headier than earlier ones, one of the reasons I like them so much.
BaySailor
Kava Curious
Can you go into this in a little more detail? Thanks!
Krunkie McKrunkface
Kava Connoisseur
well, just as even just a single shell of very strong first wash kava will have a "trajectory" in which different kavalactones will be "time released" in your brain and body, with some dominating in the first few minutes and then others taking longer to kick in, e.g. in the classic euphoria-krunk-very mellow sequence that you get in a strong balanced kava like Squanch or TFR or Nambawan, it is my belief (although I am just pulling this out of my ass and have no science to back it up) that similarly the different kavalactones in any particular grind will be expressed in sequence and at different times in the grog as you put the grind through successive washes. In particular, the initially dominant ones become less dominant as they are essentially played out, and then the other ones kick in, ones that are not so prominent in the first two washes. I do, however, find the first two washes to be so close that I routinely mix them together to more fully equalize their potency. Also, 5th and 6th wash are very similar so I usually mix them as well. So my distinct washes by character are 1+2, 3, 4, and 5+6. It's 6 washes but really only 4 distinct grogs in practical terms.