Hi all,
I’m new to kava having never used it before but I know I’m looking for something that kills anxiety or at least helps it & possibly one for sleep/relaxation.
If anyone could point me in the right direction I’d be most grateful.
Thanks
Kez
If you want a quick and easy way to get into Kava, check out
https://www.getkavafied.com/ . They have the ingenious Aluball Shaker and Aluballs. You put your medium grind root powder into the Aluballs then shake for a minute. The end result is a decent-strength grog. You can use an existing shaker bottle and just buy Aluballs if you want! As long as the capacity is similar. If you buy Kavafied's shaker bottle, it'll come with an Aluball. It's generally recommended to get a 2nd Aluball so you can make stronger grog.
Traditional prep is the closest to how the Pacific Islanders do it where you have a strainer bag (kava vendors sell these but you can also buy nut milk bags. Most people will recommend 75-100 microns for kava) and you put your root powder into it. Then you submerge the bag in cold-to-warm water and knead for about 5-10 minutes. As kava is not very water soluble, the
kneading motion is essential to extracting the best parts of the root. Steeping is not enough. The aforementioned
@Kavafied has great strainer bags!
To get the most out of your kava root, it's recommended to re-use it at least once. Whether you do traditional prep or use Aluballs, take your 1st wash and set it aside, then make a 2nd wash with your preferred prep method. Then mix the two washes together. You get more volume of grog to drink and you can balance the strength of it. Some people will do additional washes and some will save their used root solids (reminds me of fibrous sand) and re-use those with fresh root, but that's up to you if you have the time and motivation to pinch the value out of your root powder.
Besides Kavafied, some vendors I recommend buying from include Gourmet Hawaiian Kava, Bula Kava House, and Kalm with Kava. There are many vendors with their own forums for discussing their products and the businesses themselves. This community loves its kava very much. At Kava Forums, it's not hard to learn about the latest vendor with quality products or a vendor who's disrespecting the root with bad business practices. The active userbase here don't collectively plan to steer you wrong!
No matter what kava root powder you buy and how you decide to make your kava grog, just remember:
DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Kava is noticeably dehydrating. Drink lots of water between your cups of grog.
Welcome to the Kava Forums! We're here to help.
