Newbie Introduction and Soon Review of islandkava.com

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking around these forums for a while now and I feel like I've nearly read every single post worth reading on the board and I must say that this is a great place for information. I don't remember exactly how, but I stumbled here by way of Kavaseurs web blog and from trying to research the effective uses of Kava. When I first started looking up information regarding kava the first site I found was the Kona Kava website and while it has a great amount of information the promises it makes on its products seem a little gimicky and immediately I was put on the defensive which lead me to look up more information regarding this very interesting and complex plant. I'm glad that I did because the moment I found Kavaseurs blog I knew that I was in over my head.

The funny part about this whole little adventure is that I actually live in Hawaii, specifically Oahu. I've had Kava within a few feet from me at campus, but just never had the urge to try, largely due to the large crowds at such booths and the fact that my classes are usually stacked on top of the other so I never have time to wade through the line. I've known about Kava ever since I've been attending my University, admittedly I didn't know a lot, but I'm thinking its better late then never to try something new. I'm allergic to alcohol due to my asian ancestry and lack of proper enzymes to digest the by products of alcohol. If I drink just even a little Alcohol I get a bad case of the asian flush. I'm hoping that kava might be something nice as an alternative to have when I'm hanging out with friends and so that when I'm out with them I don't feel like I'm just a taxi hah. I understand that Kava isn't exactly a drunk feeling depending on what it is, but I've continually read that it allows a person to feel a lot more sociable/relaxed and when hanging with friends it would be nice to have something that helped me to feel that way. If the Kava just made me feel more relaxed that would be awesome but if I end up feeling some euphoric side effects with it then that would be cool as well. I'm not exactly sure how all the effects are suppose to make you feel as I've read that all sorts of things could happen depending on what it is, but I guess that's the fun of exploring everything.

I'm not a depressed person or have any problems with anxiety. Sure like everybody else I have small bouts of anxiety with just the normal stresses of life, but nothing that I would warrant the requirement of some sort of medication. I intend to explore Kava as a purely recreational thing, something to just relax with since alcohol doesn't agree with me and just to try something new.

I've recently placed an order for the variety sample pack from www.islandkava.com as I've seen others say some pretty decent things about them and since they are just on the other side of the island. I ordered yesterday and its here tomorrow. I will be primarily looking at instant kava powders and I intend to sample a little bit of everything that is available. The instant Kava powders appeal to me the most as it just seems a lot more easier for a beginner. Eventually I hope to try the traditional way of consuming Kava, but for now the powders seem more suited just to test the waters. I also don't know how my mother would feel if she saw me in the kitchen with with a bunch of strainers, bowls and dry plant matter. She might think I'm up to some no good college...... experiments if you will.

I look forward to sharing my future findings on the products offered by islandkava tomorrow night. I'll be sure to keep a close record of how I feel when consuming their instant powders as a newbie. Be sure to look for some details in the coming days maybe as soon as tomorrow night, we will see.

 

[Bula Kava House]

Hey there. Welcome. I think you'll find kava a nice recreational substance. I've met very few people who don't like the effect of a good kava. People that expect to get hammered like they are drinking alcohol are often disappointed because of kava's mild nature and the fact that mental cognition is maintained. If you go into it without expectations of what an intoxication should be you'll find that kava takes you to a very nice and different place. Give kava some time too, the reverse tolerance is well documented.



Instant kava can be a good way to go. Its simplicity in preparation makes it a good option for a lot of people. My advice is to make sure that the instant you buy is actual dehydrated liquid from fresh kava root. Many instants are simply finely ground dry root which won't dissolve well in water and won't be nearly as strong. I don't know if Island Kava's is dehydrated liquid or not.



If you have any questions about anything else feel free to shoot me a message. I'm the owner of Bula Kava House. Our products can be found at store.bulakavahouse.com. Expect to see instant kava on our website in about two weeks. My first order just left Vanuatu so it won't be long for you to be able to try ours if you want. We also have a kava bar in Portland, Oregon which kind of serves as a testing ground. If you are interested in happenings there go to bulakavahouse.com



Bula!

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Thanks for the welcome Judd! When you get that instant in you can be sure I'll give it a try. The answer to this is probably obvious, but have you tried the instant yourself? How would you rate its potency to some of the traditional Kavas you have on hand? I've read quite a bit about bulakavahouse.com and intend to make it one of the first purchases I make when I venture into actually dried root, but if you get an instant on hand you will be seeing my business rather earlier. I'm quite interested in your melo melo or even Fu'u kavas, hopefully your instants are comparable to those products? Either way I'm sure their great, I've read nothing but good things about your establishment.



I'm happy to report that I have finally received my package from Islandkava.com. At a first glance the product is a very very very fine powder. I actually have mixed one of the extra sample packs they gave me (5 grams of every one of their instants) specifically the awa (ava) mahakea with some sprite and it has seemed to dissolve very easily into the soda. I used a whole 5gram pack since it was a free sample and its actually not that bad tasting as I thought it would be. Maybe its this particular Kava as I've read the Hawaiian Kavas tend to be more forgiving to the taste buds, but I'm having no trouble just sipping this instant with sprite. Sure it has that rooty taste, but its not as bad as some of the protein shakes you can buy at GNC, those are just horrible. My first sip was a little powder ridden, but as I look at it right now it looks like the powder is beginning to dissolve even more completely. Perhaps I was a little too excited.



I will continue to drink this first attempt and will report my findings in a little while. No class today so I have a lot of time on my hands.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Just a little update as I believe that I'm starting to feel it.



I'm going to be honest, I didn't think I was going to be reporting back so soon since it has only been 5 minutes or so since my last post, but I am feeling it for sure.



With my initial sip there was nothing at all, no numbness of the mouth, no relaxed feelings or the like, but it was just a sip so I'm sure that such a little amount was not suppose to produce anything. So immediately after contemplating on the thought I drank about 1/3 of my cup and immediately felt a numbness in my tongue. At this point I'm sure that at least something is working. I drank a little more after that to leave me with about half a cup left to drink and my body is feeling very loose. I'm guessing this is the loss of tension in the muscles that everyone talks about. I Literally feel like I'm sinking into my chair right now. As far as euphoria goes I'm sure I haven't experienced that yet. But the muscle relaxing is here and now and its a nice feeling. I still have half a cup left and now that I look at it looks like some of the powder has settled to the bottom of the cup, quite a good amount. I'm probably going to have to mix in some water afterwards to drink all of this back up.



As far as taste goes this seems to be a very friendly first take at Kava. I don't feel like gagging at all. If you can handle a little bit of a rooty taste/chalky taste this kava is just fine. If you can't handle such taste at all I'm sure if you just clip your nose as you drink it you'll taste nothing at all because the after taste is not very strong. It goes away quite quickly. I'll report more as I venture deeper.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

I've finished my first cup of Awa Mahakea and have now made another one with half the dosage of the first. I use 1tsp the first time and now am using half a teaspoon. The muscle relaxant effect of the first cup kinda began to fade after a while is this normal? I have a feeling this has something to do with reverse tolerance. I know I was feeling something, but the effects were short lived. I had a fuzzy feeling in my head and that stuck around, but its mild and not really much. I did just eat some mcdonalds fries though because I haven't ate all day and I know eating actually lessens the effects, but for some reason it made the head feeling much more stronger? The muscle relaxant feeling kinda feels like its coming back, but I'm not sure. I haven't touched the second cup I made as I want to digest for a while before I have it. Perhaps letting it sit in the cold ice water I've put it in will make it stronger? We will see.



I'll continue to journal out more info as I go about this.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Wow this stuff put me down. Remember that half dose cup I made? I still haven't even touched it. For some reason I ended up feeling very sleepy and ended up well.... sleeping.



This is some interesting stuff I don't really know how to describe the whole experience. I still have a big feeling this mix of effects and intensities has something to do with reverse tolerance, but what do I know. I'm going to down the rest of this Awa Mahakea and then probably test out the the Fiji Waka and Vanuatu Tudei, we will have to see.

 

[Bula Kava House]

The people of Vanuatu claim that the effects of kava are felt most intensely when it is drank on an empty stomach, and is followed by a small warm meal. That would explain the intensified effects after eating.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Very interesting information! This whole time I thought that eating after consuming Kava would make the effects go away, but this small experience and what you have said has put things in a better light.



I've tried islandkava Vanuatu Tudei and it is indeed a more body sort of effect. I again drank only half a tsp though so it wasn't all that strong. I'm starting to think that I need to be consuming more powder to actually feel anything probably at least 1 teaspoon. Is anybody here that is familiar with instants able to give me a good estimate of how much I would need to drink in order to have a strong effect, if that is even possible?



I'm going to try a tsp of Fiji Waka and another 1tsp in 15 minutes after that and see where that gets me.



Experimentation with Kava is a very long, but enjoyable process. The flavors of these instants are not bad at all either. The earthy taste is indeed present, but not as bad as I imagined. If I really don't like it I can just hold my nose and drink the whole cup without any fuss, I think in time it'll probably grow on me.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

Hey guys, this is gonna rap up my first day of test trials. I just did 10grams of Fiji Waka Instant Powder not to long ago and I believe of the three this one seems the most disappointing. My first attempt was using the Awa Mahakea which produced some noticeable effects. It was my first attempt at instant Kava Powder the only other Kava I've tried was the Yogi Kava Stress Relief which on occasion I have been able to get some very mild relaxing effect. The Awa Mahake on the first try produced some nice calm effects. It was mainly a muscle relaxing feel coupled with a warm fuzzy feeling around my head. The fuzzy feeling wasn't that strong but I felt it. The next attempt I had today was half a tsp of the Vanuatu Tudei instant powder and it produced some weak muscle relaxing effects and that was it, I however attribute the weakness to the fact that I used very little compared to what most people recommend, a whole teaspoon. After that try I proceeded to use the Fiji Waka which I consumed 1tsp twice spaced between about 30 minutes. This attempt left me a little confused as I wasn't sure I felt anything. It was very weak if at all. Maybe there was a sort of calmness to it, but nothing memorable.



I just made 1tsp of Vanuatu Tudei to rap up the night. I've taken a third of it maybe and immediately feel some body effects and little fuzziness to the head. I kinda feel like I wasted that half tsp of this stuff earlier since its clear to me that this stuff is either all or nothing if you want effects, at least it is for me right now. Again I believe its the reverse tolerance and the fact that I'm going to need to build up before I can start cutting down for the same feeling. We will have to see.



I think I'm going to continue journal my experiences with Kava as noob on this thread as I'm sure for people who are getting into it, its nice to see some in depth information of what exactly goes on. At least I know I would have enjoyed it during my time lurking on this forum.



Islandkava.com



Awa Mahakea - So far so good, some nice feelings, need to experiment with higher dosages

Vanuatu Tudei - A pronounced body feeling, this stuff will relax you given the right dose

Fiji Waka - Not impressed, I can't remember any sort of effects that made this memorable even though I have taken mostly this today in terms of grams of instant power. I will try some more attempts to garner something out of it, but so far its not looking good.

 

[kl.Boredomkillz]

This will serve as my wrap up post to my review of islandkava.com instants.



I've tried all three of their offerings and on the whole the experience has been a good one. The shipping was quick and prompt and they didn't take long to get my package out. They are here on Oahu just like I am and they processed my order at midnight so these guys are always on the lookout which is great. I ordered just 3 hours or so before they processed it so around 9-10pm and it was good by 12 and out the door in the morning with the post office.



As for the instant Kavas it has been a long and grueling process of trial and error. I like to brew the instants in water bottles as it is just convenient and have found for about 14oz of water (I drink a little bit to give room for shaking the powder) I need 2 tsp of the instant to get any good effects.



Now for the individual instant powders themselves I will point out that I am definitely not a fan of the Fiji Waka. I'm not sure if its just this typical Fiji Waka or all Fiji Wakas (I believe other vendors offer this as well, although not in instant form), but I believe I've read that Fiji Waka kavas tend to have a lot of DHM. DHM causes Nausea as many of you know and with this instant I get dizzy and nauseous with even just 1tsp. The muscle tension relaxation is there sure, but at the cost of being dizzy and nauseous not worth it in my opinion. Its not a great amount of dizziness/nausea, but its this slight tinge in my head that is enough to become extremely annoying. When it is all said and done the nausea/dizziness ends up turning into a headache.



The Vanuatu Tudei and Awa Mahakea are easily my favorite. I like to mix 1tsp of each into a water bottle and have it. With this combination I get noticeable effects and on a few occasions have had some mild euphoria. You will definitely feel something and at times it might feel strong, but the downside is that it doesn't last long at all. You'll feel good for an hour at best then have to down 2 more tsp in a water bottle to get it back. The reason I like mixing the two is due to the differences I've found between them. The tudei produces the muscle relaxation while the Mahakea produces this slight euphoria and clarity that I can't explain. Taking them together just intensifies the whole experience and produced the best and strongest effects Ive felt on these instant powders.



After this whole experiment I have finally decided that it is time to try the real deal. While I hoped the instant powders would prove to be enough for me they seem to be good for short moments when you need it well "instantly". I have come to believe that if I fully want to sit down and understand Kava for what it is I need to try dried root preparation. With that said I will be placing orders for real deal Kava within the next week or so and will be reporting back my experiences as I have them. Hopefully these little logs of my experience will one day help a newcomer to kava as many of these posts on this forum have helped me.