Kava

[coffeedude22]

I had a similar experience as Nick, had Kava in the Philippines that was quite relaxing. Best night of sleep ever. Not surprisingly, the tinctures I got a few months later were nothing alike. Thanks for the reddit link Charon, I'm going to check that out for sure.

[User1242]

I tried Kava and it didn't do much for me. Maybe the source was bad. Passion flower and Valerian root was much better for me. Get them seperate and not in a mixed in formula though.

[Salty]

Good kava makes your mouth numb and your thoughts giddy. When I was travelling around the South Pacific I would often get 'invited' (as tourists do) to visit a traditional kava ceremony. There is a huge amount of work that goes into preparing it traditionally, but the buzz I got off it is something that I have never been able to reach with capsules, tinctures or extracts. I have doubts about some of the prepared products sold as dietary supplements (they won't be paying for the good stuff and I highly doubt they contain as much kava as they say they do). Additionally, it is usually something that is drunk a number of times from the brew over the course of a couple of hours- much like social alcohol drinking. Just like popping a benzo at home might lower your inhibitions as much as a couple of beers, it can't replace the social aspect of meeting friends at a bar.

Very cool that you got to travel around the South Pacific trying kava. I think the closest thing you can get to freshly-made kava is this:

https://www.bulakavahouse.com/collection...-drink-mix

It's fresh kava root juice that's been dehydrated to a powder.

OK... you sold me... ;-)

[Sriracha99]

Have been curious about looking into kava for some time now... Appreciate everyone's experience, and info!

[Glousck]

Kava root is the best, if you buy Kava in capsules it won't have the same effect. There are plenty of guides on the Internet detailing how to properly strain and prepare Kava root that are easy to follow. Excellent alternative to benzos, and whilst I'm hesitant to suggest it's non-addictive (since even chocolate can be considered addictive), it certainly lacks the same habit-forming patterns present in other GABAa-type meds. Very short-lasting though, if only there was an extended release version...never going to happen buy one can only dream...