Judd was good enough to let me try his micronized 11 year, a variety that I was really interested to check out and so I got try the micronized and 11 year in one go. Thanks @Judd Rench!
Preparation and Taste
I know it's micronized, but was too fearful to toss-and-wash given my history with digestive discomfort with even the 55 micron straining bag, so I used the 25 and prepared it the traditional way. I figured that high surface area of the tiny grind would make the traditional prep method even more effective and I think it did. I did everything the same as preparing medium grind root. The grind on this stuff is indeed extremely fine. When I opened the bag, I could see lots of tiny airborne particles floating in a nearby shaft of sunlight almost immediately. this is truly a powder powder, like fine talc. Smelling the opened bag, I noticed a distinctly pine scent in addition to the earthy kava scent. Once I'd mixed it in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup with the earm water, I noticed that floating to the top were a few larger pieces of root maybe 5-6mm long and very thin. It went into solution really fast and became homogeneous after only a small amount of stirring.
After kneading thoroughly and squeezing all the water out, I examined the makkas. There were at least 3 tbsp of what looked like modelling clay left in the bag.. roots that didn't make it through the 25 micron screen. My closest point of contrast was a test filter I did through the same bag with GHK's instant, which only left a small amount of residue in the bag. I haven't tried any other micronized grinds, so I have no baseline for comparison but the particle size in the grind is > 25 microns at least.
On to taste! This was an intersesting one. There was a distinct piney taste that I first noticed when I opened the bag. It was sort of somewhere between pine and lemon cleaning fluid sort of smell. Not a bad smell at all, just unique to this particular kind, I suppose. I know that the 11 year waka is very high in yangonin, and I thought maybe the unique smell represents the unique chemical composition. Other than a light piney flavor, there was almost NO bad taste. Not even a peppery taste. No bulaface at all. Not bitter. This was incredibly smooth. Whether it's the cultivar or the micronized grind, I don't know, but this kava is INCREDIBLY mild tasting. I can't give it zero-shells in the ratings above for bitter taste, or I would have.
Onset and Effects
I noticed this one right away. Probably at 20 minutes is when I first noticed the typical sensations the precede the kava experience. At 40 minutes I had a strong sense of its effects, and the beginnings of a headache. At an hour, the headache had grown to be a thumping one, but I started drinking more water at that point rather than take something for my head. Now, as I've written this review about 2 hours in, the headache is starting to subside.
It's headier than I'd thought it might be. I find that it feels good to periodically stretch my arms and upper body. I'm not sighing, though, so it's not a Heady Monster like Mo'i or Nambawan or even Borongoru. At one hour and change, I noticed an irritability that I sometimes get in a kava session, but it was more pronounced. I found myself a little on edge, but this subsided over the course of about 30 minutes.
My body is relaxed, and I do feel some heavy eyelids and a need to rub my eyes a bit. Even though I took a morning nap for an hour after I got up this morning, I'm considering going horizontal again even though I probably won't this late in the day. I think that this kava would make a good night time kava for its mild heady effects and slightly stronger sedation.
Conclusion and Random Thoughts
This is probably the second most sedative kava I've had, next to Nene. The micronized grind made preparation really easy, even though I did end up doing it the traditional way. Judging by the amount of sediment still in the 25 micron bag, I'm glad I did. The headache was somewhat anomalous at this point in my kava drinking life, having not had STRONG headache effects since the early days when I was trying to figure out dosage and rate of drinking my shells. That's probably the only thing that I didn't like here. All in all, a very finely ground kava with good effects using less root (by volume) than I usually use.
I appreciate the chance to try this one out. It's definitely an outlier among the kava I've tried, and that's what I was hoping to find based on the chemotype and others' reports.
I won't be providing a morning after report, as it's mid-day and I will likely be switching to Pouni Ono for tonight when I go to a party, but I will report back if there's any digestive upset, though I haven't felt anything yet and I doubt I will.
Preparation and Taste
I know it's micronized, but was too fearful to toss-and-wash given my history with digestive discomfort with even the 55 micron straining bag, so I used the 25 and prepared it the traditional way. I figured that high surface area of the tiny grind would make the traditional prep method even more effective and I think it did. I did everything the same as preparing medium grind root. The grind on this stuff is indeed extremely fine. When I opened the bag, I could see lots of tiny airborne particles floating in a nearby shaft of sunlight almost immediately. this is truly a powder powder, like fine talc. Smelling the opened bag, I noticed a distinctly pine scent in addition to the earthy kava scent. Once I'd mixed it in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup with the earm water, I noticed that floating to the top were a few larger pieces of root maybe 5-6mm long and very thin. It went into solution really fast and became homogeneous after only a small amount of stirring.
After kneading thoroughly and squeezing all the water out, I examined the makkas. There were at least 3 tbsp of what looked like modelling clay left in the bag.. roots that didn't make it through the 25 micron screen. My closest point of contrast was a test filter I did through the same bag with GHK's instant, which only left a small amount of residue in the bag. I haven't tried any other micronized grinds, so I have no baseline for comparison but the particle size in the grind is > 25 microns at least.
On to taste! This was an intersesting one. There was a distinct piney taste that I first noticed when I opened the bag. It was sort of somewhere between pine and lemon cleaning fluid sort of smell. Not a bad smell at all, just unique to this particular kind, I suppose. I know that the 11 year waka is very high in yangonin, and I thought maybe the unique smell represents the unique chemical composition. Other than a light piney flavor, there was almost NO bad taste. Not even a peppery taste. No bulaface at all. Not bitter. This was incredibly smooth. Whether it's the cultivar or the micronized grind, I don't know, but this kava is INCREDIBLY mild tasting. I can't give it zero-shells in the ratings above for bitter taste, or I would have.
Onset and Effects
I noticed this one right away. Probably at 20 minutes is when I first noticed the typical sensations the precede the kava experience. At 40 minutes I had a strong sense of its effects, and the beginnings of a headache. At an hour, the headache had grown to be a thumping one, but I started drinking more water at that point rather than take something for my head. Now, as I've written this review about 2 hours in, the headache is starting to subside.
It's headier than I'd thought it might be. I find that it feels good to periodically stretch my arms and upper body. I'm not sighing, though, so it's not a Heady Monster like Mo'i or Nambawan or even Borongoru. At one hour and change, I noticed an irritability that I sometimes get in a kava session, but it was more pronounced. I found myself a little on edge, but this subsided over the course of about 30 minutes.
My body is relaxed, and I do feel some heavy eyelids and a need to rub my eyes a bit. Even though I took a morning nap for an hour after I got up this morning, I'm considering going horizontal again even though I probably won't this late in the day. I think that this kava would make a good night time kava for its mild heady effects and slightly stronger sedation.
Conclusion and Random Thoughts
This is probably the second most sedative kava I've had, next to Nene. The micronized grind made preparation really easy, even though I did end up doing it the traditional way. Judging by the amount of sediment still in the 25 micron bag, I'm glad I did. The headache was somewhat anomalous at this point in my kava drinking life, having not had STRONG headache effects since the early days when I was trying to figure out dosage and rate of drinking my shells. That's probably the only thing that I didn't like here. All in all, a very finely ground kava with good effects using less root (by volume) than I usually use.
I appreciate the chance to try this one out. It's definitely an outlier among the kava I've tried, and that's what I was hoping to find based on the chemotype and others' reports.
I won't be providing a morning after report, as it's mid-day and I will likely be switching to Pouni Ono for tonight when I go to a party, but I will report back if there's any digestive upset, though I haven't felt anything yet and I doubt I will.
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