Between us girls, if you don’t want to upcycle/recycle your Etoh - why not go with a vac oven with an auxiliary cold finger insert to your exhaust line out of the oven or dual cold trap - rather than a dehydrator?
Many reasons to go with this piece rather than a traditional dehydrator, especially since you can direct evacuated gas, lower boiling points, etc.
Or if you really want to have fun, get a bench top rotovap;HTF; and an oilless vane pump?
From one student to another, when buying equipment think about potential future endeavors and their unknown applications in an emerging market. Lots of vac ovens being liquidated left/right currently too <3
Last gratis spoon from me though, lets chat roots sometime man
Curious why you think there’s no way to do it legally, or what the exact legal implications here are? Plenty of people sell kava online. And ready made shots like “Feel Free” are in every gas station practically - although I know they are facing a lawsuit. However, kava doesn’t fall into any legal gray area.
Random aside - I happened to see this company a few weeks ago and it piqued my interest. I haven’t seen many/any pre-made drink mixes that use kava, or that are marketed in any smart ways. https://www.calmingco.com/
I was a little emotional when I wrote that. Remember this a diary from someone with not a lot of experience lol.
But I can do it legally but not right away. Because, I need liability insurance and the product needs to be produced each component in a compliant space. Labels, etc all need to be compliant. I don’t advocate for doing anything illegally, but if someone were to replicate what I’m doing they could probably get away with it for a while but make enough money and the FDA will come eventually.
I want this to be something I can take pretty far. And I don’t want to go to jail or get a warning letter. So doing it all the right way the first time is really important and also pretty pricey. But I’m willing to take the blow.
It’s not about grey area. Just that the FDA has been cracking down hard on supplements in general.
Also, idk where you are but kava drinks are not common where I am. I frequent many headshots and gas stations you name it, both sketchy and legit. Do not see kava. It is not well known where I am and I see a market, even if it was known people are making money off of it which means I can too.
Above all, be sure it’s safe for human consumption.
They’re cracking down on it because “supplements” are often damaging and sold strictly for profit… and this:
Is why…
It’s also the same reason all the legislators are cracking down on converted cannabinoid nonsense, the world is going electric and the market is going organic.
I care nothing more than to provide people with a pleasurable and enjoyable experience while making sure they are safe.
In final production, not a single non-organic chemical will be in my pills. Shit, the entire premise of my new company is that everything you ingest (beyond the vegan gel caps I guess) is from earth and not chemically manipulated beyond physical changes.
I think that organic is the way to go. The earth provides a multitude of beautiful compounds and botanicals that we can enjoy without adding a bunch of shit that is questionable for our health.
With the being said, the FDA does have very stringent requirements on entry to the supplement field and with good reason. And, within a reasonable time frame I fully plan on meeting and exceeding each and every one of them.
But: as long as I live in a free capitalist marketplace I will absolutely utilize it and for me morally as long as I’m not fucking people’s lives up, if I set a price and people but it I will sleep sound as a rock each night.
I’ve been testing kavas. 5 cultivars down. Trying to get over reverse tolerance. I hate the way this stuff taste so much. At Kava bars it’s no where near this disgusting. I am torturing myself each night drinking all of this kava. It makes me want to throw up. Beyond numbness I feel no noticeable effects. Pretty unhappy. Currently have a grog in the dehydrator as we speak. It does take very very long, 6 hours at least. Might go with the vacuum oven but will start with the dehydrator. Also my ball mill (Rock tumbler) sucks ass.
12-16oz of Acidified (ph4-4.5) room temp distilled water + 25g of med grind or 15g of micro, mix contents in blender, store and steep in fridge for 1hr
Re agitate
Filter out biomass to desired level
Take 1/2 solution and enjoy/take notes
Take other half and run it through your dehydrator setup, compare notes.
Kava tastes worse and hits less the hotter it gets, hell, and it likes to be separated with sheer force or applied pressure way more.
Stay away from soft gels, use dry caps. Soft gels have way more headache/overhead and nuance. Dry caps are plug and play with way less oversight.
Got about 5 grams from 50 grams of grind give or take. Turns into about 1.8mg flakes/kavalactones
I haven’t had kava in a year or two so I’m still trying to get over reverse tolerance and Sadly can’t really tell the difference in effects because no effects are to be had.
so i’ve decided to fully embrace contract manufacturing. I found a place that can make 30% kavalactone powder extract. They do not use alcohol which is good for the consumer. Will be getting the sample next month and sending to the lab for HPLC to see if they’re lying. I have actually wasted a ton of money on all of these inputs. This way it is fully legal and i’m not selling shit i’m creating with the chance of contamination.
New problem, payment gateways and merchants. Kava is banned by most high risk merchants i’ve called. so now i’ve reached another barrier. ugh.
Man, you need to research more before throwing around so much money. you’re spinning your wheels before you even get started. just an observation… i enjoyed reading your notes however. reminded me of a younger me, I love your ambition. I just think it needs refined.
you are trying to build a luxury 10 million dollar home on top of a bad foundation. you need to build up the stuff in the background BEFORE Zulu even think about stock.
first, before you spend any money further investing , you hire some professionals to consult to get down and dirty. you will likely take their information and then modify your operation to be more efficient . they will let you know usually point blank if it’s a bad idea as well.
You should have had labels design, website, business phone number all ready to go after getting green light from legal/merchant processor. all of those can be turned live when the time is right , but you want all of it in place .
THEN , you are ready to buy the machines and such to prepare for stock. Final step , you scale the operation and once your stock is ready , it’s your green light to make everything go live and begin marketing .
take a read of my suggestions and let me know what you think. we are all still learning here everyday so i’m happy to discuss this, there may even be a businessman more apt that I, that may come along and tell me how wrong I am lmao.
@soicythecliq
Thank you and you’re right. I think a large part of why I lost so much money with my last venture was because I would pull the wallet out at anything that seemed like a good idea even though it wasn’t going to get me realistically any closer to a product.
I’ve pivoted, and now having someone else make everything. This eliminates my need to have any machines that you mention at all. I am working on labels, website, and hunting down merchant accounts and gateways. I also have a business phone number.
I haven’t thought of consulting. It’s pretty expensive isn’t it? I mean, I see where you’re coming from, and it makes sense. I have made a lot more mistakes in my previous venture. And the reason it didn’t work was because of this same thing you’re bringing up now. I think I’m going a mile a minute to get this thing launched when my pockets nor knowledge aren’t ready for it. But, this is why I moved to contract manufacturing. Leave all the packaging, formulation, etc. To the professionals. And leave the rest up to me.
Originally you mentioned getting a lawyer on retainer. I do have one already, just not on retainer, that’s expensive as hell. And you’re gonna call me an idiot for this, I know. But, I have read and read and read the FDAs guidelines. They make it very clear on what they do and don’t want on packaging and advertising. So I think that I have utilized my tools to be able to understand and get to a place a fda lawyer would have gotten me. (in my defense. I’m also going to law school)
I’m glad to hear you made couple good steps in the right direction from what I can tell. it’s a good move to outsource your production if it’s too much for you to handle yourself.
As far as the lawyer goes, consultations usually are charged by the hour , around 100-150$ per hour and you won’t need more than a couple hours max for what you’re needing. retaining one is very expensive and not yet needed in your current state . but it never hurts to have one. depends on your budget situation
You didn’t mention much about having a lab guy. is the new partner you are working with, just taking your formula and making stuff with it? or do they have a research department that could actually give you good advice on the formula and adjustments for best product quality?
They just make whatever I say no questions asked. I’ll look into consultation. I think I’ll get everything ready for launch from what I know already. Then I’ll look into getting a consultation so they can help me tighten up before go time.
I actually have a lot of beverage formulation experience and would be willing to do some pretty cheap consulting, as long as you’ll aid me in acquiring some data I would like re: kava processing.
Thank you for the offer. Although I am creating a drink eventually, I’ve got a pretty good lock on stable drinks that involve oil. Luckily, the Kava I’m using is already water soluble. But if you have any questions about Kava I can answer.
I’m specifically in need of business consulting. Once everything is ready I need that final down to earth talk about where I need to go what I should expect and what the hurdles will be. I’m playing in different sectors (kava and supps) so we’ll probably need both to evaluate what I’ve got.
