Kava Science Where to have my kava tested

[ThePiper]

I have some kava that I would like to test for above ground parts etc. It does not smell or taste like kava and it is very weak. I will not out the vendor until I receive it. Its not one of our main vendors here.

 

[TheKavaFlow]

Reach out to Garry at TrueKava, I'm sure he'd love to help out.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

There a lab near me called https://www.alkemist.com/, I know some vendors have used them before. If you're willing to dish out the dough, they can giving the full info on what you've got. However, a more simple version of spectrometry would probably suffice for finding the green hues of aerial adulteration.... @verticity had the device you would need. IIRC

I've got some experience with consuming kava mixed with aerials (Starwest botanicals, HKC and others) and I think I can pick it out by scent and the weak effects just back up my assumption. Hit me up private and let me know if it was either:

Spoiler

Dua Na Bilo's Vanuatu kava

or

Spoiler

RoH's Samoan.

 

[TheKavaFlow]

Those spoilers have me rolling @sɥɐʞɐs

 

[ThePiper]

Are those spoiler kavas super good right now? After getting this I would like to find something nice.

 

[Zaphod]

Reach out to Garry at TrueKava, I'm sure he'd love to help out.

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Send it to me, I’ll let you know if it’s good

 

[kavakarma]

@sɥɐʞɐs What do you know about Starwest Botanicals? I am currently creating an opinion of them and I need to express my learnings to a local store who is selling a product containing their Kava. The Kava made me feel bad and tasted like spice, what's the deal with it?

 

[TheKavaFlow]

@sɥɐʞɐs What do you know about Starwest Botanicals? I am currently creating an opinion of them and I need to express my learnings to a local store who is selling a product containing their Kava. The Kava made me feel bad and tasted like spice, what's the deal with it?

In the past they've been known to sell non-root/stump parts of the kava plant. Unfortunately, multiple sources on these forums alone have pointed to them selling stems and leaves, which you most definitely should not be ingesting. Not saying all of their batches are like that, we just know that they haven't put their best foot forward in the past.

The general advice is to only buy kava from sources that ONLY provide kava, as they're much more likely to ensure their products are tested and validated to be what they say they are.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

@sɥɐʞɐs What do you know about Starwest Botanicals? I am currently creating an opinion of them and I need to express my learnings to a local store who is selling a product containing their Kava. The Kava made me feel bad and tasted like spice, what's the deal with it?

I used to buy Starwest Kava every once in a while, if I ran out of good stuff, 'cause they sold it in a local health food store.
It was always suspicious to me, very dark, with a strange aroma and flavor. The tell-tale signs of aerial adulteration, if not also some other kind of adulteration. So eventually I got it tested, and it was notoriously one of the worst test results we've ever seen. It had a large percentage of aerials in it and had a tudei-like chemotype. However it was always very weak and never made me feel bad.

A couple years later a kava-industry article came out about a big kava exporters product getting busted for being tainted...and on the list of companies he sells this product to was: Starwest Botanicals. I'm not sure if they ever corrected the issue and sourced proper kava root, I wouldn't be surprised if they just jumped from one shitty supplier to another.