The Kava Journal
Field notes, research, history, culture, cultivation, and observations from more than two decades working with kava.
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Before you can say anything useful about how strong a kava is, you have to prove what it is. The three American-grown cultivars behind Technical White Paper No. 2 were put through three independent identity checks, HPTLC fingerprinting, HPLC-UV quantification and near-infrared classification with KavaLytics, and all three agreed. Every lot is authentic Piper methysticum, and every lot is beverage-grade, with flavokavains at just 1.6–2.5% of total kavalactones. Two of the three are noble by chemotype; one reads Isa-type, but still very much Beverage-Grade.
Inside White Paper No. 5: 85.5% of the Kava Reaches the Shell — and 90% of It Is Riding on Particles
A four-variety mass-balance study measured where the kavalactones go when kava is prepared in an Alu Bottle Shaker. One 60-second cycle moved 77.8% of the root's kavalactones into the shell. Another 60 second extraction moved that extraction figure to 85.5% and 90% of that arrived on suspended particles, not dissolved in water. Traditional kava is a suspension, not a solution and the Alu Shaker® is highly effective at making a quality kava beverage averaging 100mg of kavalactones per 125ml serving.