Video The Palmetto Plunge method for kneading kava easily

[Palmetto]

Here is a method I came up with for kneading medium grind kava. It has the advantages of being nonmessy, quick, and keeps your hands clean and dry. Kavalactones don't cling to your hands, thus you get less dermopathy on your hands. I used to get cracks in my skin near my fingernails when I kneaded by hand. Now I don't get dermopathy anymore. It is easy to knead a whole gallon of kava in seconds. All you need is a juice container, a potato masher, and a strainer. I prefer small pore paint strainers.

Blenders can also do a good job, but you still need a method to squeeze the kava from the medium grind. This method could be combined with blending or sonication for even better efficiency.

 

[Kavaguy]

Great idea; going to order a potato masher, thanks for posting this!

 

[Palmetto]

@Kavaguy Glad you like it. Using a blender is a good idea too, but plunging squeezes the powder, which blending does not. A combination of the two approaches could work, especially if a magnetic stirrer were involved.

 

[ThatDankK]

@Kavaguy Glad you like it. Using a blender is a good idea too, but plunging squeezes the powder, which blending does not. A combination of the two approaches could work, especially if a magnetic stirrer were involved.

Blending makes a pretty damn strong drink, but the biggest downside is the immense effort you have to use to even strain it out, which might be easier when combined with your method but I feel like using the masher when it's already hard to strain blended kava might mess up the bag. Last time I blended my kava, I had to stand there for a good 10+ minutes to get the water out lol

 

[Palmetto]

@ThatDankK ideally it would include a hand crank, but that would require some engineering

 

[The Kap'n]

@Palmetto

 

[kasa_balavu]

Good job!

 

[The Kap'n]

Just so everyone knows, Palmetto and Henry were in the chat last night, and I couldn't go without bringing up this gem.

This isn't my video, but I laughed, I'll admit it.

 

[kavamehameha]

Thanks for sharing this vid, @Kapmcrunk , I needed a good laugh.

 

[Zaphod]

I am sure this technique provides a happy ending.

 

[Palmetto]

That's not where the idea came from!

 

[Skinskava]

i was worried we were movin on from great kava for the porno industry.

 

[Halibut_Acid]

Blending makes a pretty damn strong drink, but the biggest downside is the immense effort you have to use to even strain it out, which might be easier when combined with your method but I feel like using the masher when it's already hard to strain blended kava might mess up the bag. Last time I blended my kava, I had to stand there for a good 10+ minutes to get the water out lol

Could you blend then french press the resulting liquid?

 

[ThatDankK]

Could you blend then french press the resulting liquid?

I have a French press but I've never actually tried that, so I don't know

 

[fueledbykava]

Wow, so I made some kava with this method yesterday (albeit in a bowl since I don't have a pitcher that the potato masher will fit inside of) and the kava actually came out way stronger than it usually comes out, and I usually use a good squeezing/rubbing technique for the same amount of time that I used in this prep. I'd bet that the fact that the potato masher has smaller parts coming into contact with the kava, it's exerting a way higher pounds per square inch than we could ever exert with our hands with the larger surface area that they have. That higher PPSI probably squeezes the fibers better and extracts more as a result.

 

[Palmetto]

Wow, so I made some kava with this method yesterday (albeit in a bowl since I don't have a pitcher that the potato masher will fit inside of) and the kava actually came out way stronger than it usually comes out, and I usually use a good squeezing/rubbing technique for the same amount of time that I used in this prep. I'd bet that the fact that the potato masher has smaller parts coming into contact with the kava, it's exerting a way higher pounds per square inch than we could ever exert with our hands with the larger surface area that they have. That higher PPSI probably squeezes the fibers better and extracts more as a result.

Mechanically stirring/blending first and drinking the unmashed kava can provide a strong drink, but will never get as much out as also mashing. I believe in mashing for the 2nd wash, then nearly boiling the kava and mashing for a third wash. Right now, I can only afford about 1 1/2 pounds a months, so I try to make it go as far as possible. I think I might even go as far as sixth wash on occasion.