The hot water method or boiling method is the best way for me, it will change the starch so the drink might be a bit thicker but you can add a bit more water to fix that, and it is a stronger brew too. I have done this for as long as I remember, I do the cold water way too but my favorite is the hot water or a powder that I make from fresh root, it is like baby powder, it is very fine and needs no straining but it is hard to make this and I do not have any fresh root right now, I am going to make some the next time I harvest a good variety, I am going to harvest a Isa plant soon and that is not a good one for me, I do not care for the tuday kava, some people do but I do not, I guess being from Hawaii with all the high Kavain plants I got used to that. I remember when my mom would tell me about how she would prepare the 'Awa for her dad, she did it the old fashion way, she would chew it in her mouth and then when she has a good pile of chewed 'Awa then they would make the drink.
I have to tell you that if you tried Moi' and did not get much from it, then it was a weak batch, there are a lot of growers that do not take care of there plants or fertilize them like they need to be, Dr Lebot and the Dr's at UHM have shown that all wild plants or non fertilized plants were much weaker than the plants that were grown right and fertilized right, I have had some of my 'Awa tested at over 20%, and that is naturally, this is not an extract, so if you were to try my Moi', I know you would change your mind about Moi'.
I am here to show you folks what 'Awa can really be like, there are some good ones and not so good and down right bad ones, I hod some from one guy that had a burnt taste and that came from his grinder, the way he was grinding the 'Awa was making a lot of heat and it would make the 'Awa taste bad and burnt.
We do not know enough about Kavalactone and how they act as a group to say that #2 being in this position is what is causing this effect, we just have a basic understanding, like we know if #4 is first in the chemotype then that is going to hit your head fast and good, if you have #2 or #5 in the first position then you can expect stomach discomfort and a long 2 day high or longer. The more people that try good kava with known chemotypes and then tell us of there experience then that will help us start to understand the synergy effect that the kavlactones as a group has.
Yes 10 years ago there were a lot of people selling a lot of different Hawaiian 'Awa but since the liver scare and the ban in some countries the kava market was destroyed. Tons of kava were being sold to the pharmaceutical companies and they would make there extracts. So in the Pacific are where kava grows they started to see a shortage so they started to add the stalks and leaves and even other things that were not kava, then the companies would make there extract and that is where the liver problem is. Traditionally only the roots and the corm or stump of the kava plant were used, not the stalks and stems, the Dr's at UHM have isolated an alkaloid that is harmful to liver cells. I want to say too that the initial scare about the liver problems were unfounded, it was found that the people had preexisting liver problems or were taking other drugs with the kava. When this liver stuff happened the Hawaii 'Awa market fell to the bottom, there were only a few that kept growing Hawaiian 'Awa.
I have 14 Hawaiian varieties and several from Fiji, Tonga, Pohnpei , and Papua New Guinea, I am not sure if I am going to sell the fresh root, there is a good possibility that I will, it takes about 5 pounds of fresh root to make 1 pound of dry root. I actually prefer the dry powder over the fresh root but that is just me. This is from my website, it is directions for fresh root------
Making the 'Awa drink with fresh root pulp.
First you need to get the fresh 'Awa root into a pulp, a sausage mill will work or even pounding like in the old days. Once it is in a pulp, put about 16 ounces of 'Awa in a bowl and add 4-6 cups of water. Mix the pulp and the water very well and then pour it into a silkscreen or a strainer, knead the pulp in the water so that you get all the kavalactones out of the pulp and into the water, I do this a few times and you can even change the water and start again with about 1-2 cups of water, this second batch will not be as strong as the first batch. When you are done kneading the Awa that is in the strainer bag then squeeze all the water out of the bag and your Awa is ready to drink. I hope this helps, aloha.
Chris
