Kava is...awesome. It is a root of a plant grown throughout the Pacific that people chew or grind up and mix with water to make a drink. The drink gives you (in order of sensation) a numbing feeling in the mouth, a relaxed mental state, muscle pain disappears. It is a safer alternative to alcohol, prescription pain pills, social drugs, etc... Did that answer your question?
Sorta. I still don't know what it is. I mean to say, what does it do? It gets you high or buzzed or something? Is it legal in the USA?
Okay..yes. Kava gives you a high, a buzz, a feeling. Among kava drinkers in Hawaii we call it "gettin' rooted". Yes it is Legal in the US.
It's good but I heard it can be pretty hard on your liver. I always take a double dose, the strong stuff really mellows you out that way. Some brands I can't feel at all though.
Kava comes in all different forms. Fresh root unprocessed (ground up) Fresh root processed Fresh root processed and frozen Dry root unprocessed Dry root processed Pills Extract My personal favorite is Dry root processed. Last for a year or so without worry, ready to use whenever you need it, traditional, etc...
Yeah that was the report out of Germany 10 years ago. It was outlawed there for a while. But just this year the European Union came forward and apologized for there "bad science". It turns out that the whole, "bad for your liver bit", was based on seven people with liver disease using the plant incorrectly (eating the stem and leaf of the plant). It's a bummer this happened because it really killed a lot of business here in Hawaii. There is a lot of variation in brands of kava. Traditionally the older the plant the stronger it was. People usually wait 3-5 years before harvesting. Some report that a few companies out of Fiji and Vanuatu are harvesting plants after only a year and a half to fill orders (another bummer, it gives Kava a bad name). Also, there is a lot of variation in variety of plants. In Hawaii there are 13 varieties. I love them all, but prefer only 3 varieties. They give me the feeling I like. Different varieties give you different feelings.
and yes it is legal in the usa... it makes me very mellow and makes my face all numb (if i'm able to drink a strong enough dose).. which is good for migraines kinda slow on the replies here...
No and yes.... This plant has been used by human beings for thousands of years. It has always been strained in some manner because the fibers are hard on the digestion if swallowed. If you take pills of kava you are doing two things 1) Putting a strain on your digestive tract. Kava is a very hard root. 2) Buying really expensive kava. Kava in pill form is marked up BIG. It is called value adding. You could buy the same amount of kava as in a bottle of pills for a tenth of the price if you got just the processed roots. If this is the way you want to do it (I recommend against it) I would say buy kava powder and empty pill capsules. You'll save a ton of money.
I own a kava bar in Hawaii. I sell 2 main varieties of Kava. Honokane'Iki and Hiwa Check out my store at Kava Kafe
How we serve kava (awa in Hawaiian) at the bar is dry powdered root strained through a nut milk bag. Many things can be used in a pinch though. People use nylon stockings, t shirts, muslin bags, paint strainers. These all will do. You put the kava powder into the strainer and massage it in water for 15 to 30 minutes. The longer you massage the greater chance of getting all the active chemicals (kavalactones) out of the kava and into the water.