Decided to try out some alcohol alternatives for Dry January, starting with these Kava seltzers containing 500mg kava kava root extract per can.
Taste:
Sparkling Coconut Lychee: Milky white in color, smells very faintly coconut. Sweet lychee and creamy coconut up front, more coconut, lychee tartness, and notes of earthy kava in the finish; overall sweet and very creamy, I like this flavor a lot.
Sparkling Lemonade: Milky white, smells like Country Time lemonade. Sweet and tart lemonade up front with a strong earthy kava flavor in the finish with a touch of lingering acidity; overall the initial lemonade flavor is nice but it’s quickly overpowered and ends up tasting almost like a traditional bowl of kava.
Sparkling Strawberry Watermelon: Milky white, smells of strawberries, watermelon rind, and lime. Sweet strawberry candies and watermelon gummies up front with a light acidity and notes of watermelon rind and lime peel on top of (and greatly attenuating) the earthy kava finish; overall much better than the lemonade, but not quite as good as the coconut lychee.
Sparkling Orange Dreamsicle: Milky white, smells of orange, kava, and the tiniest hint of vanilla. The taste is mostly just earthy kava with subtle whispers of Tang underneath, finishes with a little more orange and vanilla notes and more earthy kava; overall it’s better than the lemonade, but the orange creamsicle flavor is very subtle, mainly just smoothing out the kava notes in the finish.
My favorite: the Sparkling Coconut Lychee tastes great and covers up the kava flavor the best. The coconut even adds a creaminess to the mouthfeel that I really enjoy. 2nd favorite would be Strawberry Watermelon, then Orange Dreamsicle, and least favorite was the Lemonade.
Effects:
Classic mouth numbness of kava while drinking, with a moderately strong kava buzz from just one can. Two cans gives a heavily sedated yet lucid buzz, similar but superior to alcohol. One can of kava plus one can of Kratom Seltzer is a very mellow, relaxed buzz with a noticeable sleep inducing sedation.
Overall these are certainly more convenient than traditional kava preparation, with virtually the same experience, plus some nice flavors to mask the earthy kava to varying degrees.