Via, e-mail, from, A.K.,, Sat, 3/15/2003, 9:19, PMHi, Jonathan,I, bought, some, excellent, Mo'i, Kava, from, you, a, couple, ofmonths, back., , Let, me, assure, you, the, stuff, isfantastic., , Out, of, my, own, curiosity,, I, have, beenscanning, the, web, for, differentrecipes/experiences/dosages, of, Kava,, and, theirrelative, efficacy.I, feel, that, even, though, I, have, made, Kava, many, times,I'm, still, not, technically, adept, in, making, it, preciselyas, strong, as, I, want, it., , I, have, checked, out, thediscussion, board, and, recipes, on, your, site,, but, I, waswondering, if, I, could, poll, your, personal, knowledge, fora, bit, of, understanding.So, here's, the, questions...answer, at, your, convenienceand, many, thanks, for, sharing, your, experience...How, much, Kava,, in, tablespoons,, do, you, think, I, couldput, into, a, small, amount, of, liquid, before, the, liquidstops, taking, kavalectones?, In, other, words,, at, whatpoint, have, I, saturated, the, liquid?I, have, seen, 1, tbsp, /, cup, of, water, listed, many, placesas, the, standard, dose., , I, have, also, seen, 1, cup, of, Kava/4, cups, of, water, listed,, which, seems, extreme, andexpensive., , This, is, quite, a, difference., , What, are, somegood, personal, doses, for, an, evening, of, mildintoxication?What, would, a, traditional, dose, be, (tbsps/cup, of, kava)and, how, many, cups, in, one, sitting?Thanks, again, for, your, help...will, probably, be, in, touchsoon, for, an, order.-AK__________________________________________________Aloha, Adam,I'll, also, be, posting, some, of, these, excerpts, onthe, discussion, board, later., For, now,, this, is, what, I, could, think, of, this, morning.How, to, get, an, effective, extraction, is, has, always, been, an, interesting, problem.What, is, the, desired, strength, of, the, beverage?Kava, grinds, can, be, reused,, but, to, maintaina, certain, concentration, of, kavalactones, (KLs),, one, should, use, less, water, subsequently., In, one, test, conducted, for, Hale, Noa,, a, kava, bar, in, Honolulu,, two, mixings, were, made, with, Vanuatupowder., The, second, mixing,, using, the, remaining, kava, grinds, from, the, first,, was, mixed, with, 1/3, the, amount, of, water, to, maintain, the, more, or, less, the, same, "consistency."For, example,, they, made, it, strong, with, three, liters, of, hot, (140F), water, per, 250g, of, dried, kava, as, the, first, batch., (This, proportion, was, roughly, comparableto, two, heaping, tablespoons, of, powder, to, one, cup, of, water.), After, that, is, made,, a, second, batch, was, made, using, one, liter, of, hot, water.What, was, found, that, the, first, batch, rendered, 36%of, the, KLs,, the, second, batch,, 17%,, and, the, rest,47%,, was, discarded., Apparently,, only, about, half, of, the, KLs, in, the, kava, could, be, rendered.One, interesting, thing, about, this, test, was, that, the, chemotype, of, the, beverage, was, different, from, the, powder, by, itself., For, example, chemotype, of, 243651, was, in, the, (Vanuatu), powder,, whereas, analysis, of, the, beverage, revealed, a, chemotype, of, 423651., Apparently, Kavain, ("4"), came, to, be, dominant, over, DHK, ("2"), in, the, beverage, -, this, is, considered, a, desired, effect, from, a, drinking, perspective.Normally,, I'm, lazy, and, just, throw, away, the, kavagrinds, after, the, first, use., However,, in, an, economizing, operation,, I, do, reuse, the, grinds, to, about, 1/3, thewater, in, the, second, batch., I, prefer, not, to, use, hot, wateras, it's, inconvenient., Others, even, freeze, the, usedgrinds, in, the, belief, that, the, freezing, ruptures, the, cell, walls, of, the, kava, powder, to, release, more, of, theKLs., They, also, use, less, water, in, a, subsequent, mix.Sometimes, I, feel, that, when, taste, is, not, an, issue,, esp.,, using, a, heavy, flavor, of, a, colada,, I, use, a, blender, at, high, speed, to, do, the, mixing, as, I, feel, that, it, renders, the, KLs, more, effectively, as, suspension, in, the, beverage.Spacing, the, cups, apart, during, a, kava, session,, somepeople, wait, about, 20, minutes, between, cups., I, generallydrink, two, or, three, cups, an, evening., Others, for, social, reasons,, I, guess,, drink, four, cups, spaced, out, over, thetime, they're, at, the, bar., However,, at, all-nighters, in, some, kava, parties, and, communities,, 10, plus, cups, are, common, -, however,, they, also, make, it, a, lot, more, dilute, than, the, bar., There, doesn't, seem, to, be, a, rule, about, this, other, than, individual, preference, or, peer, "pressure.", [:)]mahalo,Jonathanp.s., for, more, on, preparation, there's, an, article, on, straining, in, the, recipe, section, under, "Straining, Kava?", Its, link, ishttp://jonathanyee.com/nativeplantsforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24">

Straining "(Part 2)"

yee

Via e-mail from A.K., Sat 3/15/2003 9:19 PM Hi Jonathan, I bought some excellent Mo'i Kava from you a couple of months back. Let me assure you the stuff is fantastic. Out of my own curiosity, I have been scanning the web for different recipes/experiences/dosages of Kava, and their relative efficacy. I feel that even though I have made Kava many times, I'm still not technically adept in making it precisely as strong as I want it. I have checked out the discussion board and recipes on your site, but I was wondering if I could poll your personal knowledge for a bit of understanding. So here's the questions...answer at your convenience and many thanks for sharing your experience... How much Kava, in tablespoons, do you think I could put into a small amount of liquid before the liquid stops taking kavalectones? In other words, at what point have I saturated the liquid? I have seen 1 tbsp / cup of water listed many places as the standard dose. I have also seen 1 cup of Kava/ 4 cups of water listed, which seems extreme and expensive. This is quite a difference. What are some good personal doses for an evening of mild intoxication? What would a traditional dose be (tbsps/cup of kava) and how many cups in one sitting? Thanks again for your help...will probably be in touch soon for an order. -AK __________________________________________________ Aloha Adam, I'll also be posting some of these excerpts on the discussion board later. For now, this is what I could think of this morning. How to get an effective extraction is has always been an interesting problem. What is the desired strength of the beverage? Kava grinds can be reused, but to maintain a certain concentration of kavalactones (KLs), one should use less water subsequently. In one test conducted for Hale Noa, a kava bar in Honolulu, two mixings were made with Vanuatu powder. The second mixing, using the remaining kava grinds from the first, was mixed with 1/3 the amount of water to maintain the more or less the same "consistency." For example, they made it strong with three liters of hot (140F) water per 250g of dried kava as the first batch. (This proportion was roughly comparable to two heaping tablespoons of powder to one cup of water.) After that is made, a second batch was made using one liter of hot water. What was found that the first batch rendered 36% of the KLs, the second batch, 17%, and the rest, 47%, was discarded. Apparently, only about half of the KLs in the kava could be rendered. One interesting thing about this test was that the chemotype of the beverage was different from the powder by itself. For example chemotype of 243651 was in the (Vanuatu) powder, whereas analysis of the beverage revealed a chemotype of 423651. Apparently Kavain ("4") came to be dominant over DHK ("2") in the beverage - this is considered a desired effect from a drinking perspective. Normally, I'm lazy and just throw away the kava grinds after the first use. However, in an economizing operation, I do reuse the grinds to about 1/3 the water in the second batch. I prefer not to use hot water as it's inconvenient. Others even freeze the used grinds in the belief that the freezing ruptures the cell walls of the kava powder to release more of the KLs. They also use less water in a subsequent mix. Sometimes I feel that when taste is not an issue, esp., using a heavy flavor of a colada, I use a blender at high speed to do the mixing as I feel that it renders the KLs more effectively as suspension in the beverage. Spacing the cups apart during a kava session, some people wait about 20 minutes between cups. I generally drink two or three cups an evening. Others for social reasons, I guess, drink four cups spaced out over the time they're at the bar. However, at all-nighters in some kava parties and communities, 10 plus cups are common - however, they also make it a lot more dilute than the bar. There doesn't seem to be a rule about this other than individual preference or peer "pressure." [:)] mahalo, Jonathan p.s. for more on preparation there's an article on straining in the recipe section under "Straining Kava?" Its link is http://jonathanyee.com/nativeplantsforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24