Boiling and Baking With Kava

We’ve got some exciting news to share (purely anecdotal) about Kava’s ability to be heated, boiled, or baked while still remaining effective! Due to an overwhelming number of visitors who both asked whether or not Kava could be heated, boiled, or baked while still retaining its pleasurable and medicinal effects, I couldn’t resist opening a discussion here. So, to get everyone up-to-speed:  Kavalactones are one of the 24 compounds that occur naturally in of Kava. Kavalactones are also believed to be mainly responsible for the pleasurable effects of Kava. But, it’s widely published that this compound will break down and become inactive if Kava Kava is heated beyond 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  That means that Kavalactones are a very delicate part of this natural herbal panacea, and that any manufacturing or preparation of Kava Kava has to occur under 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Well, let’s take a look at just a few of the comments that began to appear under our “Best Way to Take Kava” post:

JD had to say this:

Not to be a devil’s advocate, but my experience with Kava tea knocked our socks off! The kavalactone in this case was apparently not boiled away or the power lessened. We boiled the organic tea leaves (not much…about two tsps) we purchased from a local food co-op in a pot. Then, we strained the liquid into our mugs and sipped away. After approx. 15 min. and less than half-way through the drink, I started laughing uncontrollably. And Larry, my friend, jumped out of his chair with a huge grin on his face. We laughed, went for a three mile walk, laughed, heard some live music, laughed, went home, plopped down, smiled, and had a comfortable night’s sleep.What do you make of this???

And then, Laiste said this:

I was experimenting with making syrups and decided to make a kava one…not realizing that heat supposedly kills the active ingredient I made a nice batch of chocolate kava syrup. It is yummy and let me tell you… somehow boiling it gently for over 40 min. did not kill it’s effects. I tasted it and my tongue went numb and shortly after I started feeling nice and relaxed. So..I’m just wondering what’s up with that?

If that’s not enough, then Rick said this:

I heard that I can’t make anything out of Kava that’s hot.  Since I enjoy a cup of (hot) Chamomile tea before I go to sleep, I wanted to make some tea of Kava to mix with my evening tea.  I thought that a great combination might be the sleep-inducing Chamomile, with the pleasant and relaxing effects of Kava.  So,  I tried gently heating 1 tablespoon of Kava Kava powder (I bought it from Kona Kava Farm in Hawaii) in a small amount of water for about 10 minutes.  Once I took it off the heat, I added my Chamomile tea, and steeped that for another 10 minutes.  I’m happy to report that the effects of the tea were wonderful, and quite different than my usual Chamomile tea.  So is it true that Kava can’t be heated or is that another one of those rumors?

That was enough to prompt both a personal experimentation process, as well as a bout of research on the internet to find out what was really true.  Since I feel that my personal experience speaks more loudly than an experiment in a lab somewhere, I’ve included my personal experiments with heating, boiling, and baking with Kava first:

GENTLY HEATING KAVA:

So, after extensive, but unofficial experiments with heating Kava over individual 5 day periods, below are my results.  I kept everything exactly the same between each individual experiment.  Every one used the same Chamomile/Valerian Tea (I’ll refer to as “herbal tea”) that I’ve used for a couple of year to help me sleep.  I also used powdered Mahakea strain of Kava root from Kona Kava Farm in Hawaii.  Here are my results:

Day 01: Made 2 tablespoons of Kava powder COLD / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk.  I did this as a “Control” experiment to document the effects of making a Kava drink.  It was as I expected and have come to know over the past 10 years.  It’s a gentle relaxation with some euphoric feelings.  It’s also a quite “social” sensation, where I want to converse with friends or simply be around people I care about.

Day 02: Gently heated Herbal tea / 1 cup of water / 5 minutes.  I did this as the “Control” experiment to document the effects.  It had the usual gentle sleep inducing effects I’ve come to know over the past few years.

Day 03: Gently heated 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk / Herbal tea / 5 minutes.  I definitely felt the effects of Kava!  I know the effects of both my tea as well as Kava as a drink very well, and this was a VERY nice blend of the 2 effects.  The kava root tea was very soothing, and helped guide me towards sleep, while the Kava gave me a very relaxed sensation, almost feeling as though my minor aches and pains disappeared as well!

Day 04: Gently heated 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk /Herbal tea /15 minutes.  I still felt the effects of both the tea and the Kava, and it didn’t feel any different than it did when I gently heated the tea for 5 minutes.  This is exciting news!

Day 05: Gently heated 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk / Herbal tea /60 minutes.   Ugh; the effects were still there, perhaps even intensified a bit with the herbal tea, but the tea was really bitter.  Even when I added sweetener (honey), it still had a bitter aftertaste, and sat on my tongue.  NOT recommended!

BOILING KAVA KAVA:

Day 01: Made 2 tablespoons of Kava powder COLD / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk.  I did this as a “Control” experiment to document the effects of making a Kava drink.  It was as I expected and have come to know over the past 10 years.  It’s a gentle relaxation with some euphoric feelings.  It’s also a quite “social” sensation, where I want to converse with friends or simply be around people I care about.

Day 02: Gently heated Herbal tea / 1 cup of water / 5 minutes.  I did this as the “Control” experiment to document the effects.  It had the usual gentle sleep inducing effects I’ve come to know over the past few years.

Day 03: Simmered 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk / Herbal tea / 5 minutes.  I kept the temperature around 210-220 degrees Fahrenheit, and again, this was a VERY nice blend of the 2 effects.  I am intimately familiar with the effects of both my herbal tea as well as Kava drinks, and I couldn’t tell any difference from the cold Kava drink, and the one I just made while boiling (simmering) my Kava.

Day 04: Simmered 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk / Herbal tea /15 minutes.  I still felt the effects of both the tea and the Kava, but it definitely DID feel different than it did when I gently heated the tea.  It became more bitter, but I also didn’t notice the effects as much.  It was still pleasant, but definitely not my favorite way to enjoy Kava tea.

Day 05: Simmered 2 tablespoons of Kava powder / 1 cup of water / soy lecithin and coconut milk / Herbal tea /60 minutes.   This was by far the worst recipe of all the ones I tried!  I got a bad-tasting, bitter drink that had a bit of a “burn” flavor to it.  It wasn’t relaxing at all, and I didn’t feel ANY effects of the Kava at all.

BAKING WITH KAVA:

Try 01: Well, all I did was make a 1/2 recipe for Brownies using a Betty Crocker Brownie mix.  I added 1 tablespoon of Kava powder for each single serving brownie, for 6 tablespoons total (6 brownies per 1/2 tray).  But, I didn’t just add the powder, I extracted 6 tablespoons into the water and the vegetable oil, using an extra 1/2 cup of water to account for all that would be absorbed into the extracted powder . (That should actually be a good way to extract the active components of Kava Kava, since there is some water as well as vegetable fat.)  I blended that mix on high for about 10 minutes, and then strained, strained, strained!

I then added the eggs and the brownie mix, baking them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, just as directed.  The brownies came out looking just like I had expected.  I let them cool and cut them into 6 squares.  The taste wasn’t too bad at all, and not unlike a very chocolately Kava drink.  But, after eating the first one, I didn’t really feel any of the effects of the Kava.  So, I tried a second one.  Still, no effects, although I was feeling the sugar and chocolate buzz, without question.  For the sake of the experiment, I ate a third one, but still…no Kava feeling.

I then thought that perhaps the brownies were masking the effects of the Kava, so I made myself a quick Kava drink out of 2 tablespoons of Kava powder the usual way.  Just as always, I felt the very pleasant effects of the Kava, with, actually, an added caffeine-ike intensity that was quite pleasant.  It was like a nice Kava “buzz” with an added bit of energy!

Try 02: So, this time, I used Kavalactone Paste instead of Kava Root.  I used the same 1/2 recipe as the first try above.  I used 1/4 teaspoon of Kavalactone Paste per brownie, so that was 1 1/2 teaspoons total.  I had the exact same result as above.

THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS: I have to say that I didn’t notice much of a difference between the COLD Kava tea versus the GENTLY HEATED Kava tea, other than the taste.  Without question, the longer I heated the tea and the Kava powder, the more bitter the drink became.  I’m going to continue to experiment with different times and combinations, but I can say that gently heating the water (below the boiling point, around 180 degrees Fahrenheit) was perfectly fine, potent and effective!

Also, it seems that I was able to simmer the Kava tea for 5 minutes, and I could still feel the effects, no problem.  It did seem that at 15 minutes, the effects of the Kava were lessened, and after 60 minutes of simmering, as I said above, there was no noticeable effects of the Kava at all.

Baking with Kava doesn’t seem possible.  I may try baking at a lower temperature, but am also hoping that others take the lead and report their own personal findings here.  Just remember to have fun with it; I’m excited to hear what others come up with and find out for themselves!

THE “SCIENCE” SIDE OF HEATING KAVA:

And now, let’s move onto the “science” part of my unofficial research.  This section is coming soon!

Mahalo,
Kava Dot Com