First time drinking kava tea? We got you covered. You should expect a bitter mouth-numbing taste, followed by kavas naturally relaxing effects.
The preparation methods of traditional kava are a bit more time consuming, luckily Designer Kava instant kava powder does all of the hard work for you.
You don't have to worry about traditional kava preparation methods, just add one teaspoon sized scoop of Designer Kava powder to water directly (or your favorite drink).
If you want to learn more about kava root preparation, read our post on How to brew a kava drink. We talk about the way to make kava and how to potentiate the experience.
What is instant kava? Instant kava means you don't need a strainer bag or to do extra work in your kava preparation. It is made by using fresh green kava root juice and then dehydrating it. If you want to learn more about this process and about instant kava, check out our article instant kava powder: what it really means.
The taste of kava tea
Simply put, kava tea does not taste good. Kava is scientifically names piper methysticium which means "intoxicating pepper". Similar to the pepper plant, but intoxicating. People consume kava root powder (kava tea) for the effects of kava, not because they like the taste of kava tea.
One way around this is simply to chug your kava tea drink down fast if you can not stand it. This is generally speaking what we do.
We have found sparkling water helps a bit, or chasing with a soda even (we generally do not make kava with a soda unless it is recipe like seen here).
An alternative would be mixing (after preparing kava) your kava with another drink to mask the taste. We are working on getting more recipes for preparing kava drinks, but in the meantime check out the article The best Kava mix & kava drink recipes.
Since it is instant kava powder, you have less fibrous parts of the kava root. This helps significantly in terms of not only purity, potency and taste, but also makes it so you don't get the nausea some people experience when they consume kava root (especially micronized kava. We never sell micronized. You can learn the difference about Instant Kava vs. Micronized Kava at that article). You can enjoy a wayyy stronger kava drink without the nausea using instant kava.
How much instant kava powder?
With Designer Kava instant kava powder, since it is exceptionally pure and strong: you only need 1 teaspoon (about 2-2.5 grams) of kava powder for your drink (per 200ml). You can drink up to three times this much (do not exceed), but we would recommend one cup or shell at a time.
What is a shell?
Welcome to kava root vocab 101. Kava root powder (once the kava preparation is complete) in the Pacific Islands is consumed inside a half coconut shell, or husk. This is where the term "shell" comes from.
You can think of it this way: 1 shell = 1 drink.
If you decide you want more kava after you prepare kava, that is just fine. Have up to three shells (3 teaspoons or 6 grams of instant kava). Just drink them one at a time and let the effects kick in, otherwise the taste may be too strong or the effects could surprise you.
Getting the most out of your kava preparation
With kava preparation, chances are you want it to be strong. For this reason we recommend drinking kava with coconut milk, and when you make kava tea be sure you have eaten a few hours before- you will feel the effects more on an empty stomach. We have a whole post about this here.
Make kava one shell at a time, or if you want to have a big batch for a group, just make kava in one large bowl. Just keep in mind not to go overboard and to add more water for the more kava root you plan on using.
In summary:
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1 teaspoon of instant kava per kava drink (shell)
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drink kava on an empty stomach
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coconut milk with kava or other fatty liquids can potentiate the effects of kava
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if you don't like the taste, drink your kava fast or chug your kava down
Also, remember the amount of kava you need varies from person to person. We recommend starting with one teaspoon, and going up to 3. We recommend this amount of kava as we cant have people just getting absolutely wasted the first time they try kava.