Welcome!! Hope you find this forum as awesome as I do. I think you'll find it very informative and everyone here is very friendly and extremely supportive. I was like you, I lurked on the old Yuku site for probably well over a year. When I decided to get more serious about Kava, I decided to make the big leap and joined the forum and posted my first post on the Yuku forum. If it wasn't for @
Kapmcrunk I would probably have never found that the forum had moved to here. How embarrassing!!
I'm a Newbie too, but am trying really hard to get up to speed and hopefully will someday be able to self-proclaim myself experienced. So take that into account when reading my replies to posts.
I used the same extract as you (plus Instants) before using any fresh root. I used the extract (and Instant) solely at first to get used to the effects of Kava and it also got me through my RT (reverse tolerance to Kava). Then when I finally started using root powder it gave me a real life experience appreciation of the root compared to the extract. I really liked the extract, but after using the root powder, I can now say that the extract works ok but there is something lost in translation. I think Instant comes closer to emulating the effects of root powder than do the extracts.
My understanding is that there is an old wife's tale that dictates that you should never heat Kava because it ruins the Kavalactones (and effects). But that has been debunked by many people here who use heat all the time (many posts here about it) to enhance the potency of their Kava prep. I've read some articles on hot processes for extracting (distilling) oils from plants and it's my belief that what you really need to be careful of is over boiling Kava in liquid because it would probably cause the Kava oils to "boil off" from the steam into the air. Then it's bye bye Kava tones.
I agree with most that it doesn't seem a great benefit to add fat while prepping your Kava. But from personal experience and reported experiences by others here (again lot's of posts about it) there is a fair to significant benefit to eating something fatty after you drink your grog. I believe this is because the Kava oils you consume are not water soluble but when you consume some fat in your stomach, it somehow combines with the oil to help it get absorbed and digested (metabolised) properly (giving it a bigger kick than otherwise). As an aside, I ingest Flaxseed (for fibre). It's also not water soluble, and the result of eating it is that it travels straight on through to the lower intestine of the stomach. This is a desirable effect for the Flaxseed, but definitely not something you want your Kava oils to do.
Anyways that's my personal opionion, not Scientific fact. You'll have to ask @
infraredz for that.
Regards
EDIT: Regarding my comment about "boiling off" the Kavalactones when boiling Kava there is a simple experiment to prove that. Take a pressure cooker and place some water and Kava root into it. Then attach a rubber hose where the pressure valve is located with the other end of the hose sitting in a bowl. Cook the Kava in the pressure cooker as you would cook other stuff you normally cook. When the Kavalactones start to boil off in the pressure cooker they will be forced to pass with the steam out the pressure valve through the hose and condense into the bowl. The result should be distilled Kavalactones and water. The only problem with this, is that no one I know has ever really tried this to prove or disprove. I'm still trying to find a guinea pig!!