Kava Waka Powder – Authentic, Noble Kava Root Powder from Fiji – Premium, Responsibly Sourced, 16 Oz

Used it a many times and it's good! Shared it with some friends and it worked for them too. Read a lot of reviews saying it did nothing.... pretty sure they aren't preparing it properly, aren't making it strong enough, aren't doing it on an empty stomach or a combination of all 3. The instructions on the bag are almost useless which may be misleading people into bad experiences. Do some research on the traditional method of preparation.Kava is not water soluble; you can't just soak it or steep it. You have to knead it for at LEAST 10 min in water. You're making an suspension not a solution. Meaning the kavalactones won't dissolve in the water; they float (suspend) in it. To release the kavalactones you must kneed them out into the water.*** Quick an dirty instructions: ***- Get a mixing bowl, a nut milk bag, 1 tablespoon, 1/4 measuring cup, and a glass to drink from- Make sure your stomach is empty so stop eating anything like 4 hours prior- Do ***NOT*** mix alcohol with this!!! Wait at least 24 hours to consume alcoholBasically it's a 1 to 4 ratio of kava to water. So 4 HEAPING tablespoons to 4 tablespoons of water (or 1/4 cup water). If you want to do 4 heaping tblsp of kava then you need four 1/4 cups water (or 1 cup) This would be a pretty mild mix and a good starting point to see if you want more or less kava to water.Put 4 *heaping* table spoons of kava into the nut milk bag. Dump in four 1/4 cups of lukewarm water (not hot!) into your mixing blow. Dip the end of the nut milk bag, which has the kava, into the water and squeeze the heck out of it for 10 - 15 minutes. Work it around, smush it in different places, lift it and wring it out then put it back in and keep kneading the full 10-15 min. After you've worked it for almost 15 min then wring it out really good one last time and set that aside (you can use it one more time for a less potent grog!)Pour your fresh kava suspension (grog) into a glass, hold your nose and drink it down! Don't sip it or take any longer than necessary to get it down. Do not smell it because it doesn't smell good and really won't encourage you to drink. It's pretty much like drinking a mud puddle. Might want a chaser; some pure water works or Pepsi MAX is a good one. Nothing heavy or full of sugar; something light to wash it down. While that's kicking pour another cup of water into your mixing bowl and knead another batch up. By the time that's read you should be feeling it. Drink down this second glass and let it all settle for a good 15 to 30 minutes.You may get some nausea and that's totally normal (I actually get pretty intense nausea for like 10-15 min but my body is very sensitive). The more sediment you drink the more you may feel icky but that's the good stuff there so drink it up! Maybe your thinking "well that's stupid.. it makes me feel nauseous?!" ... yeah and so does alcohol ! Think of it this way... if you drink enough alcohol to get really drunk you get nauseous and likely a wicked hangover. With kava you get a little nauseous right away, it passes in like 10 minutes and you're good to go ... with no hangover. Plus you don't loose your motor-skills, slur your speech, or become a monsterThe man who drinks kava is still a man, but the man who drinks liquors becomes a beast.Traditional Hawaiian proverbSimilar to a lot of experiences like this, the set and setting are important. I recommend a super chill setting with a few close friends, some smooth/chill music, and conversation. If you're by yourself then strap on some head phones or do some meditation to really get the full effect.To dial in the potency to your preference then you adjust the kava to water ratio or make more batches of the same potency. If you didn't get nauseous then you can significantly increase the kava to water ratio; try 2 or 3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup water. If that 1:4 ratio made you nauseous then make 4 batches of them so you have time to recover in between. The reason I keep using 1/4 cup is to fine tune your ratios. The more kava you add you may need a little more water so you're not making it so thick you can't drink it. It's more art than science; play around with it ... do more research ... you'll figure it out.Kava is a diuretic so be sure you are SLAMMING fluids for the rest of the day and the next day. So to avoid any ishy effects the next day stay very hydrated and you'll feel fine after it wears off and into the next day.Please do some more of your own research; I've just given some very basic guidance here for this specific blend. There's all kinds of different blends, types, methods.... you can make more elaborate creations to change the taste and potency... Welcome to the world of kava!

Very potent, strong and gives a nice numbing feeling in the mouth. I am drinking it as I write this now. The taste is meh, like all Kava imo, but tolerable. It’s one of my two favorites, and I always mix some of this in every brew. You could use the traditional method, but J would recommend just blending it for 5-6 minutes, strain once, voila! Also I used to throw out my Maca. But I learned about Mongrel Grog, where you put the Maka in the freezer for a couple days for the cellular walls to break down, then use it again. This extracts an additional 20-30% of the Kavalactones, meaning if you use this strategy, you will have gotten 90% of the Kavalactones total. In terms of mixing, I would recommend just tossing the Maka in with a normal brew, use normal amount of Kava + Maka, the Maka is just extra. But you could also drink it straight, but be forewarned it is roughly a third as potent. Also, I drink it in the afternoon or evening, and after a few cups I’m usually feeling ready to sleep. I usually resist the urge though since I like finishing all the Kava I make in a brew ;).

If you have ever watched the movie “Office Space”, then you might remember a character named Lumberg. He was the one who kept saying, “Ummm, I’m just not real sure about this”. And that is just how I feel about this Kava powder. I followed the directions and used an official Kava Wakacon straining bag. I put 4 tablespoons in the bag and then steeped, kneaded and strained it in 8 oz of warm water. After 5 minutes of this ritual, I put the murky substance into a glass with honey and gave it a go. To me, this stuff is revolting. It tastes like dirt, old sweat socks, muddy pond filthy and earth worm excrement. Now granted I have never tasted any of the above but really, this stuff is something you want to bypass the tongue when getting it into your stomach. The effects were immediate including my tongue went numb and I couldn’t taste anything for about 20 minutes. I felt a slight and mild relaxing effect but nothing major. Now after a couple of hours, I would say that I don’t feel an overall major effect on my mood. Perhaps a wee bit more relaxed and less anxious then baseline? Some people say that you have to take this several times and the effects are cumulative. I will see, but I am not looking forward to ever drinking this again. Perhaps an extract in capsule form might be the way to go for me since the taste alone vs the effect does not result in a net positive payoff. But since I paid for this stuff, I have a duty to finish the whole 1 lb bag. I will update this review after I have finished this bag and let you all know what my final analysis is.