This won't be new for some of you, but I thought I'd share, as I have experienced some frustration with Kava lately, and this brought me back to a place where I really appreciate it.
For a while there, I was only using Aluball prep, because I could TELL a difference between that and knead-and-strain.
There was always a more heady front-end to the Aluball experience, which I appreciated. But the stomach discomfort the next day left me questioning if I was doing damage to my body or something. Just an unusual, not-too-painful but definitely not normal feeling.
(SIDENOTE: Knowing how I felt, I have a hunch that Aluball prep is NOT ideal for anyone with diverticulitis or similar.)
So I returned to knead-and-strain, but was disappointed because I wound up having to make larger batches to even come close to the same effects, ending up with "Kava belly" by the end of the session. Not too pleasant.
This is what I do now, and it has worked consistently for the past two weeks:
- Add dry Kava to dry (not even remotely damp) strainer bag.
- Place strainer bag of Kava inside of Tupperware container, with lid closed around bag, leaving the OPEN end of bag hanging outside.
- Making sure the strainer bag is clamped down well, SHAKE this for a while, in all different directions.
- Let sit for a minute (for the "dust" to settle), then open.
- The stuff outside the bag, coating the inside of the container, is essentially "micronized" Kava.
- I carefully tap/bang this all into one corner of the container and empty into a shaker bottle.
- I take the remaining Kava, still inside the strainer, still sitting in the Tupperware container, and add 12 OZ warm water plus some coconut milk.
(I eyeball the coconut milk, but I'd say it's no more than a few ounces.)
- This remaining Kava is kneaded like normal, for several minutes, and the liquid portion is added to the shaker bottle with the fine/micronized Kava powder.
- I add two cubes of ice, close the shaker bottle lid, and give this enough shaking to ensure no Kava is caked in the bottom corners of the bottle.
This works really well. One may argue you are ingesting more material, but a lot of this is the stuff you're trying to force outside the strainer bag anyway.
And in this case, you don't get the hard peppery bits that get through Aluball meshes. So in my case, I'm ingesting less material that would cause stomach discomfort. AND I'm getting consistent results.
So... profound effects, minus the stomach discomfort.
Today I added to this turmeric and black pepper, which really added to the experience.
Hope this is useful to someone else!
For a while there, I was only using Aluball prep, because I could TELL a difference between that and knead-and-strain.
There was always a more heady front-end to the Aluball experience, which I appreciated. But the stomach discomfort the next day left me questioning if I was doing damage to my body or something. Just an unusual, not-too-painful but definitely not normal feeling.
(SIDENOTE: Knowing how I felt, I have a hunch that Aluball prep is NOT ideal for anyone with diverticulitis or similar.)
So I returned to knead-and-strain, but was disappointed because I wound up having to make larger batches to even come close to the same effects, ending up with "Kava belly" by the end of the session. Not too pleasant.
This is what I do now, and it has worked consistently for the past two weeks:
- Add dry Kava to dry (not even remotely damp) strainer bag.
- Place strainer bag of Kava inside of Tupperware container, with lid closed around bag, leaving the OPEN end of bag hanging outside.
- Making sure the strainer bag is clamped down well, SHAKE this for a while, in all different directions.
- Let sit for a minute (for the "dust" to settle), then open.
- The stuff outside the bag, coating the inside of the container, is essentially "micronized" Kava.
- I carefully tap/bang this all into one corner of the container and empty into a shaker bottle.
- I take the remaining Kava, still inside the strainer, still sitting in the Tupperware container, and add 12 OZ warm water plus some coconut milk.
(I eyeball the coconut milk, but I'd say it's no more than a few ounces.)
- This remaining Kava is kneaded like normal, for several minutes, and the liquid portion is added to the shaker bottle with the fine/micronized Kava powder.
- I add two cubes of ice, close the shaker bottle lid, and give this enough shaking to ensure no Kava is caked in the bottom corners of the bottle.
This works really well. One may argue you are ingesting more material, but a lot of this is the stuff you're trying to force outside the strainer bag anyway.
And in this case, you don't get the hard peppery bits that get through Aluball meshes. So in my case, I'm ingesting less material that would cause stomach discomfort. AND I'm getting consistent results.
So... profound effects, minus the stomach discomfort.
Today I added to this turmeric and black pepper, which really added to the experience.
Hope this is useful to someone else!