When it comes to kava, no two are the same. One of the reasons kava gets a bad rep is that newbies to kava don’t know these differences and they can make or break your kava experience.
It’s all based on how they affect you. Some affect you more mentally, giving you feelings of mental calm and increased social feelings. Others will impact your body, making your limbs feel heavy and tired. Knowing when you drink these different kavas is an important part of your kava experience..
Heady vs Heavy
Kava is generally split up into two categories; heady and heavy. And knowing which one you drink is important to the experience you have.
Heady kavas are those that affect your mind. They give you feelings of mental clarity and focus, and make you more social. These are best drunk earlier in the day when you’re going about your tasks or getting ready for an evening of connecting with friends. Heady kava feelings are very similar to the effects of alcohol but without the hangover and other negative side effects.
Heavy kavas, on the other hand, have more of an effect on your body. They can make you tired and give your body and limbs a heavy, weighted down feeling. Because of this, these kavas are best used in the evening when you are having a relaxing night in or winding down for bed. Drinking kava before bed has also been known to help people who have difficulty falling asleep. It’s been also known to improve sleep quality and more research is looking into how this works.
What this means
So you can see that not all kavas should be treated the same and knowing the Type of kava you’re drinking is important. Drinking a heavy kava when you’re going out to spend time with friends definitely would affect how your evening goes, if you are feeling tired and lethargic. Likewise, drinking a heady kava when you are getting ready for bed, can perk you up in a way that affects how you fall asleep.
When buying or trying any type be sure you know what experience you want. If you are at a kava bar, ask the bartender what type they’d recommend. They should know all about the different types. If you are buying kava be sure to buy from a high quality source.
Newbie disclaimer
Something else new kava users aren’t familiar with is the numb feeling you will probably get in your mouth the first few times you use it. This comes from the analgesic, or pain killing effects it has. It’s completely normal and goes away over time.
