Water Temp ?
- Thread starter kl.willow
- Start date
For instant kava I normally use room temperature water. I've found that chilled coconut water is really good with instant kava.
For root powder I generally make kava with water that is "tropically warm" or around 75-80 degrees. I don't actually measure the temperature and go more by feel. Some kava recipes say that using boiling hot water will ruin efficacy of the kavalactones. I've never experimented with using hot water since kava is expensive and I don't want to ruin any.
Cold water makes my hands numb when I'm squeezing the kava. You can refrigerate it or add ice if you like it cold.
For root powder I generally make kava with water that is "tropically warm" or around 75-80 degrees. I don't actually measure the temperature and go more by feel. Some kava recipes say that using boiling hot water will ruin efficacy of the kavalactones. I've never experimented with using hot water since kava is expensive and I don't want to ruin any.
Cold water makes my hands numb when I'm squeezing the kava. You can refrigerate it or add ice if you like it cold.
kl.Project460
Kava Enthusiast
I think the "tropical warm" is the best. 75 degrees seems to make it a little bit stronger and almost increase the numbness you get even after you chill it out. I have herd the boiling water destroys certain kavalactones but potentates others ( I believe it kills the fast abosorbing and increases the slow absorbing, but I could be wrong, Ive never tried it).
http://www2.kavaforum.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13
look for "yee's" replies, he is the owner of http://hawaiiankava.com/ and studies kava.
Here are some of his quotes:
"
In addition, hot water also appears to be more effective than cold water in rendering the total kavalactone concentration.
I've also tried hot chocolate powder mix with the kava and found it to be somewhat complementary. Though I prefer drinking the kava beverage unadulterated.
Why do Pacific islanders often use plain cold water (though Hawaiians sometimes use coconut water)? One of my Pacific island cousins, a regular drinker, believes that hot water tends to bring out the sedative qualities. Could this be due to an increase in the ratio of DHM & DHK or does heat affect the absorbtion rate of certain kavalactones in the body?
And perhaps it's one of convenience. I've asked on of my native Fijian friends and he explained that, in a village, it is troublesome to heat water with wood. Moreover, mixing a hot beverage by hand (without gloves) is uncomfortable.
HPLC analysis (a way of quantifying the individual kavalactones) may help validate some of these assertions... It looks like there's a whole lot of science that could be done. However, I'd look to the cultural practices as the guide.
"
"
About three years ago, a test (using HPLC) was done on boiling the kava beverage (~212F). Loss after a few minutes at that temperature was considered insignificant. Less than 5% of the kavalactones were lost.
Perhaps warm water would be a balance between the supposed advantages/disadvantages between hot water and cold water extraction. I still use cold water and I don't have a wood stove.
"
look for "yee's" replies, he is the owner of http://hawaiiankava.com/ and studies kava.
Here are some of his quotes:
"
In addition, hot water also appears to be more effective than cold water in rendering the total kavalactone concentration.
I've also tried hot chocolate powder mix with the kava and found it to be somewhat complementary. Though I prefer drinking the kava beverage unadulterated.
Why do Pacific islanders often use plain cold water (though Hawaiians sometimes use coconut water)? One of my Pacific island cousins, a regular drinker, believes that hot water tends to bring out the sedative qualities. Could this be due to an increase in the ratio of DHM & DHK or does heat affect the absorbtion rate of certain kavalactones in the body?
And perhaps it's one of convenience. I've asked on of my native Fijian friends and he explained that, in a village, it is troublesome to heat water with wood. Moreover, mixing a hot beverage by hand (without gloves) is uncomfortable.
HPLC analysis (a way of quantifying the individual kavalactones) may help validate some of these assertions... It looks like there's a whole lot of science that could be done. However, I'd look to the cultural practices as the guide.
"
"
About three years ago, a test (using HPLC) was done on boiling the kava beverage (~212F). Loss after a few minutes at that temperature was considered insignificant. Less than 5% of the kavalactones were lost.
Perhaps warm water would be a balance between the supposed advantages/disadvantages between hot water and cold water extraction. I still use cold water and I don't have a wood stove.
"
Prince Philip
Duke of Edinborogu
140F seems to be the best.
kl.Project460
Kava Enthusiast
Tried about 140F tonight. Worked reallllllllllllly good.
kl.Project460
Kava Enthusiast
Ive had the best results so far on 140-ish water. Not so hot that it burns ur hand, but close. Dont worry about killing kavalactones either, I read a study that showed boiling water only killed 5% of the kavalactone content, but ofcourse im not even using boiling water.
sentiententity
Kava Enthusiast
Good to know 
We like to use room temp to cold water for powder and only cold water for fresh frozen.
It's not so much about kavalactone concentrations (a second wash with the same kava in the bag solves that, if needed) but much more about taste.
Cold water extraction usually always tastes better!
It's not so much about kavalactone concentrations (a second wash with the same kava in the bag solves that, if needed) but much more about taste.
Cold water extraction usually always tastes better!
kl.CarolinaBC
Kava Enthusiast
It is true what Adil said about hot water making it taste nasty. I use "pretty warm" water that won't scald your hands-probably around 120ish. It is a guess but I think that is a good temperature that balances getting what you can out of the kava and not making it taste bitter.
Ed!
Kava Enthusiast
I turn my tap water up and let it run until it's as hot as it's going to get. I let the kava sit in that for a while, then blend, then knead. By the time I'm done kneading it's still pretty warm so I throw in some ice. I don't use a lot of water to account for the ice addition. It melts pretty quickly, and gets my kava a nice cold temp.
I don't know if that helps, but I like the idea that I'm extracting the most out of my kava and still get to drink it cold
I don't know if that helps, but I like the idea that I'm extracting the most out of my kava and still get to drink it cold
kl.new2kava
Kava Enthusiast
I actually use cold water and let it soak until it's room temperture. Then I blend for for several minute intervals for around 10 minutes. I've noticed that it tends to get a little warmer with each few minutes in the blender and by the end it is actually almost hot. Then I knead and squeeze it out and throw a few ice cubes in my shell.
Prince Philip
Duke of Edinborogu
Every lactone is sacredProject460 said:
Every lactone is great
When a lactone is wasted
Frum gets quite irate.
Realistically, though, I do what Ed does.
kl.cuvtixo
Kava Curious
Generally hot liquids have stronger taste than cold. That's why mass produced American beers are served cold, and better European brews are traditionally served at room temperature. The latter is something you want to taste, but the big brand beers, not so much. That's also why so much sugar is needed for ice cream, because it's hard to taste sweetness in a cold food.
I use room temperature liquids for kava. In the future I might try using warmer liquids, than adding ice afterwards to make it more palatable.
I use room temperature liquids for kava. In the future I might try using warmer liquids, than adding ice afterwards to make it more palatable.
kl.el187joker
Kava Enthusiast
i used hot water ONE time and that was it. it was so bitter that i almost couldnt drink it(i normally had no problem downing it) never again will i do that.
i also always use bottle because i dont like tap and anything i can do to lessen the nastiness i do.
i also always use bottle because i dont like tap and anything i can do to lessen the nastiness i do.
kl.ImSoCold2323
Kava Curious
I was under the assumption that our precious kavalactones would be destroyed if heated up to some vaguely hot temperature. I believe my knowledge of this came from someone mentioning it here. Since I'm starting to question this, I decided to see if I could find some more official word on the subject. So far I'm not having too much luck.
"Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal Herbs" pg134 (Kava - Preparation and Dosage) - http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ndk42wxMBzUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA130&dq=kavalactone+heat+damage&ots=0gPDWm9gNT&sig=GXoDm_8T5AUUTyvhj1M5_90Le7o#v=onepage&q&f=false
States that "The root needs to be kept at a slow boil for at least twenty minutes. The kavalactones stay stable in the heat."
http://144.206.159.178/ft/553/42507/769267.pdfThis one's more about special lab equipment based extraction so I can't be sure it applies here, but the graph on page 190 (and following pages) shows that, in general, the percentage of extraction increases as temperature increases. Yangonin extraction is essentially 0% until you reach boiling point.
So does anyone know of any (at least somewhat official sounding) sources that state that high temperatures are bad for kavalactones? I could very well just be missing something and I'll continue to search in the meantime.
"Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal Herbs" pg134 (Kava - Preparation and Dosage) - http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ndk42wxMBzUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA130&dq=kavalactone+heat+damage&ots=0gPDWm9gNT&sig=GXoDm_8T5AUUTyvhj1M5_90Le7o#v=onepage&q&f=false
States that "The root needs to be kept at a slow boil for at least twenty minutes. The kavalactones stay stable in the heat."
http://144.206.159.178/ft/553/42507/769267.pdfThis one's more about special lab equipment based extraction so I can't be sure it applies here, but the graph on page 190 (and following pages) shows that, in general, the percentage of extraction increases as temperature increases. Yangonin extraction is essentially 0% until you reach boiling point.
So does anyone know of any (at least somewhat official sounding) sources that state that high temperatures are bad for kavalactones? I could very well just be missing something and I'll continue to search in the meantime.
krunkedout
Kava Lover
official sources? Probably the most official would be the three thousand year tradition of making kava in either cold or air temp water. Thy had access to fire so if they wanted to make it hot they could have. But they didn't. To me that says something.ImSoCold2323 said:
kl.ImSoCold2323
Kava Curious
As rcoz stated earlier, that could very well just be for convenience/comfort. I'm sure you found that you can squeeze a cup of root for a good hour or so and still get tiny bits of kavalactone goodness out of it. Do you think the natives do this? I bet they spend about 30 seconds kneading before they move on. You can take a lot of luxuries when your supply is practically unlimited.Krunkedout said:
My point is that I keep hearing references to official studies that anyone has yet to produce. I don't necessarily doubt their existence, but I've seen it before: Misinformation, intentional or not, spreads very quickly. 3000 years of advancing science gives me the luxury of viewing data points before jumping to conclusions.