What constitutes a shell and shell spacing?

[Stocky007]

Good morning!

So I’ve been on the kava train for a couple of months now, based on great advice from the Kapm on prep I’ve had some great experiences.

I’ve been doing traditional prep, 4 to 5 tbs of kava, 16oz of water. Kneading for 7 mins pour over ice and chug the whole thing.

I see a lot of you all talking about shells, and consuming multiple shells in a session, based on some other posts I’m seeing, a shell is about 150ml?

Should I be taking my 16oz serving and breaking it up into smaller “shells” and drinking them 15 mins apart? Will I get an different/better experience by doing that?

Thanks gang!

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

for rule of thumb I usually say mini shell meaning the standard 100 - 150 ml shot, a shell is a 250ml 8 oz cup and a large is a pint or half litre.

Typically I never drink shells. I just pour myself whatever size I have and sip it casually. All the time. Like a good old boy with a 2 - litre of Mountain Dew.

 

[VictoriousSpoon]

I didn't really pay attention to what serving size constitutes a " shell" until more recently, and i think the strength of the concoction should determine the volume of the serving size.

However personally I typically "slam" ~2 Heaping TBSP (so maybe 3+ tbsp if level?) of medium grind worth (the way I prep, ~600ml. I use a modified blender & strain method), because that's what I'll need to feel a substantially discernable effect. My tolerance has increased, not decreased over time with kava.

 

[Stocky007]

Awesome! Really appreciate the insight! Last night I "slammed" 5tbs/600ml of Kavafied's Lapita and it glued me to my recliner! It was interesting - I've drank Lapita 2 nights in a row now, both on an empty stomach and felt the effects kick in right around the 30 min mark post chug. Had dinner right around the 1 hour mark and it seemed to kick the effects into high gear - numbing sensation on my lips and tongue - tingly feeling all over, lost my appetite, and really felt sleepy about 2 hours in. Interesting mix of what I expect were heady & heavy effects (since I was not inspired to move at all!).

Up to now I've just had Pouni Ono from KWK - so I am excited to try other methods and kavas to see what the effects are.

Since I am relatively new to kava I've not yet deviated all that much from the original prep advice I was given. Wasn't sure if spreading out my intake somehow lengthen the duration of the effects or something of that nature.

Here's another question...given how it made me feel do you think its worth trying a "second wash" and consuming that a hour or later, or do you think I may be pushing it?

Thanks again!

 

[avahZ]

This is about right...

 

[Stocky007]

HA! Seems about right!

I was having an exceptionally strong anxiety attack last night. So I pounded 5Tbs of Lapita in 16oz of water...def worked-was super chill-then I ate dinner about 1.5 hours in and it went into overdrive-could barely move and had some pretty heavy nausea.

Think I may need to scale back tonight!

 

[PapaMoi]

I found the lapita put me down for the count after my normal amount of shells. Tonight I'm gonna slow it way down and space the smaller shells out and LISTEN to the kava! Wow is this strong kava for me. I dont remember a kava that creeps up and slams me like it even after a few shells

 

[Stocky007]

I found the lapita put me down for the count after my normal amount of shells. Tonight I'm gonna slow it way down and space the smaller shells out and LISTEN to the kava! Wow is this strong kava for me. I dont remember a kava that creeps up and slams me like it even after a few shells

Right there with you! Creeps up is a really good way of putting it!

I scaled it back tonight - only 4 Tbs...BUT I felt the onset waaaay quicker than I have in previous nights...like within 10 mins I had the tingles - def heady feeling. Took almost an hour last night

Lapita is only the 2nd type I've tried (I'm not counting my KWK sampler as I was still dealing with reverse tolerance then) and it does hit me hard...but its unpredictable. Looking forward to experimenting and getting dialed in with what works best for me!