Vanuatu Waka Kava Powder, 8 oz

I've been using this brand of kava for 4 months now, and absolutely love it. I would recommend this to anyone that needs something to aid stress, promote sleep, or also as an alternative to alcohol. To anyone that wants to know how I prepare this and how to get the most bang for your buck, just know its an acquired taste, and you will want a milk nut bag. They are pretty affordable, and if you're already buying kava power I feel like you can afford a nut milk bag. If you can't for some reason I've heard people use socks, nylons, mesh strainers, and even coffee filters, but I do not recommend. Just buy a nut milk bag. You will love it, and its useful for many other things in the kitchen. To prepare the powder I use a glass bowl. I take 4 tablespoons of powder and put it in the nut milk bag. Then take a measuring cup and fill it about 1/4 with milk, then the rest of the measuring cup with filtered water. Add the liquid to a small pot. I get the water warm, and by warm I mean comfortable to the touch. If you can't comfortably keep your hand in the water, its too hot and will ruin the kava. The temp is around 90 to 110 f. Add the warm liquid to the bowl, and kneed the kava powder for anywhere from 2- 15 minutes. The longer the better, but I have a bit of a different process so I kneed for about 2 minutes. Squeeze the mass at the bottom of the sack often, and at the end of kneading give it a good firm squeeze to get as much liquid out as possible. Most people pour the kava into a coconut bowl, but anything will work. Say a prayer or whatever you like, and drink the liquid all at once. At that point I wait about 30 minutes to an hour, and already feel really good. I then fill my measuring cup with fresh water, warm it up, and do a 2nd wash. The liquid will be less intense as the first, but still has lots of kava left. Then I relax another hour or so, and make a 3rd wash. Sometimes I even do a 4th wash, but don't recommend doing another session with fresh powder the same day. At that point I store the washed powder in the freezer, and when I get a bunch I thaw it out and do another wash, and still get a surprisingly strong drink. At that point you can add it to a compost bin, or just dump it in your yard to let it go back to the earth. Though for me I actually do one more step to get the absolute most from this amazing plant. After I thaw it out and do the final wash on the whole mass I saved up, I then add it to a large pot with some milk and water. Bring the temp up to steaming, but NOT boiling or simmering. Steep for about 40 minutes stirring frequently. Make sure to keep it only steaming, but not boiling. After 40 minutes strain out all the root debris, and store the liquid in a large container or jar. You can either freeze it for long storage, or store it in the fridge for about 3 days. You get a very mild kava that still has that mouth numbing feel to it. At that point the kava powder is completely washed, and you can give it back to nature. This process will get you the most use of the kava powder, and over time you will truly want to respect the plant for what it is. Good luck on your kava journey, and bula!

okay this strain is kinda weird because it didn't effect me really...at first. Second day I noticed I was really calm. But by day 3? People in the reviews saying it stacks are absolutely correct. It's like totally sedating. Extreme calm. BE CAREFUL because it gets STRONG kinda out of no where. I was feeling like super sleepy and super calm by day 3. I have terrible insomnia (I can go days without sleeping and when I do sleep it's for like 4 hours). I blend it for 5 minutes then seep and kneed it for 2. If you do it right with a strainer it tastes like muddy water which has been my consistent experience with noble kava strains. Extremely effective! Just be careful cause feeling these relaxed almost feels like being drunk but without the hangover or mental fog. You'll just want to melt in bed lol Some people are saying drink all of it and do not strain it I'm here to tell you ABSOLUTELY DO.NOT DO THIS. not only is it hard on the liver but it WILL MAKE YOU NAUSEOUS. if you don't want to kneed if you can mix it with water in a blender for 5 to 10 minutes on high. But you MUST strain it after. This one builds up everyday by day 3 I felt calm as muffins and just...full body melt. this is coming from someone with a high benzo tolerance and I take 3 medications for sleep. This works better. Do not take other CNS depressants with this. Do not drink alcohol.

One of the stronger Kava that I’ve been able to get ahold of. The taste is as you would think but very bearable. Texture is very powdery to help with dissolving!!! Overall I love it and so does the family

I was excited to order my first ever bag of Vanuatu Koa Kava Kava Premium Noble Waka Kave Tea. On Amazon it is advertised as "delivering an unmatched calm that soothes the mind and body, guiding you to deep relaxation." Furthermore, it's "perfect for unwinding after a long day and promoting a peaceful night's sleep." Shortly after my first package of Kava arrived, I mixed a glass of Kava in my new AluBall Kava Maker while carefully following the instructions. My first experience was good. My mood was enhanced, I felt relaxed and slept well that night. One week later my second experience was quite the opposite; I didn't feel relaxed and as the Kava wore off I began to feel irritable and had difficulty sleeping. Since then, I've mixed two more batches and noticed that I feel irritable, overly nervous and unable to sleep. Perhaps I got bad batch? I dunno. I was really looking forward to unwinding after a long day and enjoying a peaceful night's sleep.

Taste, good quality, and easy to use

I've been buying Koa Kava for a couple years. It was extremely good when I first started, but I switched to Wakacon when they raised their prices, and it was essentially comparable. I recently returned to Koa, and my most recent bag has yielded nothing but Dark, weak kava. I'm gonna stick with wakacon as a result, this last batch has been as weak as some of my re-squeezes.

It does relax but it also gives an upset stomach and pretty bad next day lethargy. It truly reminds me of a tudei kava. I have used kava for over 10 years and tried over 20 different brands, traditional, micronized and extracts. Overall this is at the bottom of the list, there are much better brands on Amazon that give desired effects without this many negatives. For me this will go in the garbage, just not worth the negative effects.

Repeat Koakava customer here. The Vanuatu is almost identical in grind and color as the Tongan. Very fresh smell. Taste is very similar also, but has a fresh ‘green’ taste and decent mouth numbing (this is good). Effects were more uplifting than sedating. Did not hit hard but was a very comfortable and peaceful . I did a batch of 80g per liter of water. Easy to make…put 3/4 liter room temp water in a blender, add the Koa Kava and blend on low for about 5 minutes. Then I add some ice (not that much) and blend on a frozen drink setting for a little bit. Pour the blender contents into a strainer bag inside a large bowl and massage the bag until you squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Just prior to tying the bag, use the remaining water to rinse out the blender and pour that into the bag before beginning to strain with the bag. You want every drop. Then ladle the bowl contents into a jar for easy pouring. I use another strainer at this point to catch and stray bits. Bula! Rarely any is leftover. Will buy again!