How to Neutralize the Bitter Taste of Kratom

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The Bitter Taste of Kratom

Kratom users know: this herb can taste unpleasant, to say the least. The basic flavors of the kratom plant are generally described as earthy, bitter, and pungent. Reducing bitterness can significantly improve your kratom regimen experience, but how to neutralize bitter tastes depends upon your taste buds. However, it’s entirely possible to balance bitter flavors with more salty-sweet flavors. Even just adding salt can have a considerable impact.

So what causes us to taste bitter flavors in the first place? We don’t precisely know. Evolution fuels one of the leading theories behind our ability to perceive bitterness. This theory suggests that our taste buds developed bitter recognitions in order to better identify poisonous plants in the wild.

This goes hand-in-hand with another theory: we enjoy sweet flavors so much because of our evolutionary adaptations against bitterness. Sweet flavors help us in reducing bitterness in our foods. And if we learned to associate bitter flavors with poison or danger over time, it makes sense that sweetness explains how to neutralize bitter tastes.

What Does Evolution Have to do with Kratom?

Does it seem that we’ve gone off-topic? Well, from a culinary perspective, it’s important to recognize the origins of bitterness to begin with. These origins can help explain why humans are naturally avoidant of bitter flavors.

Think about it: a child wouldn’t like a shot of espresso. In the same vein, a child probably wouldn’t like the taste of olives, grapefruit, or dark chocolate, either. We develop a liking to these tastes over time.

With kratom, everyday users might become accustomed to the earthy, natural taste. However, less experienced users often complain about the basic flavors of kratom powder. If we’re able to successfully explain how to neutralize bitter tastes in general, we can more adequately explain how to overcome kratom’s taste.

Reducing Bitterness: What Do Chefs Say?

When discussing flavors – or, in this case, counteracting flavors – there’s always one demographic that can help the best: chefs! In fact, chefs say you can’t eliminate a bitter taste at all; the best you can hope for is to balance bitter flavors with salty-sweet foods or foods high in fat content.

According to Jennifer McLagan, author of Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes, it’s best to cut your bitter flavors with small amounts of salt. Adding salt can trick your taste buds into thinking you’re ingesting a salty food, not a bitter one.

When talking about kratom products, what would this look like? One suggestion we always have for new kratom users is to make kratom tea. This allows you to access the benefits of kratom with less of the in-your-face flavor. However, even kratom tea can taste bitter on your taste buds. If you add a pinch of salt to your kratom tea, you should be able to neutralize the bitter taste altogether, making for a more enjoyable kratom experience.

What About Something Sweeter?

So you don’t like salty foods (or drinks, in this case), huh? There are a variety of techniques you can use when learning how to neutralize bitter tastes, and it’s all dependent on your palette. While salt may reign supreme, you can also utilize sweet or even salty-sweet flavors to overcome the basic flavors of kratom.

Let’s return to the kratom tea example: adding salt (even in small amounts) can make a huge difference. In addition, you can also add sugar to your kratom tea for increased neutralization. Add a pinch of both salt and sugar to your tea in order to better balance bitter tastes. This might sound strange at first, but remember what we said about sweet flavors in evolution: if bitter foods are perceived as poisonous or dangerous, it makes sense that sweet flavors are perceived as safe and welcoming. The salt will cut the bitter taste while the sweetness of the sugar entices the taste buds.

In addition, salty-sweet flavors are complementary, with salt enhancing the taste of sugar and vice versa. Have you ever dipped your fries in your chocolate shake? Have you ever let the syrup drip from your pancakes and onto your bacon? These are prime examples of the salty-sweet paradigm, the same flavor combinations you can use to neutralize the bitter taste of kratom.

The Best Ways to Neutralize the Bitter Taste of Kratom

We’ve discussed the science behind reducing bitterness and the evolutionary traits that allow us to perceive bitter tastes to begin with. But what are some specific ways you can neutralize the bitter taste of your favorite kratom products?

  • Balance Bitter Kratom Flavors With Coffee: As previously stated, everyday kratom users become accustomed to the bitter taste of kratom. If you’re not accustomed to this natural, earthy taste, you should try adding a bitter flavor you are accustomed to, coffee. Add a pinch of chocolate to your morning cup of Joe to take it one step further, creating a mocha-esque kratom infusion that combines salty-sweet flavor profiles with the more enjoyable bitterness of coffee.
  • Find Your Variety with Kratom Tea: We already discussed that adding salt to your kratom tea can help cut down the bitterness. However, tea has something for everyone, making it the perfect vehicle for your daily dose of kratom. In our experience, stronger, overly fermented teas do a better job of masking the bitterness of kratom. We’d recommend that you infuse your preferred kratom powder into black or oolong teas, add a pinch of salt, a small amount of sugar, and enjoy!
  • Opt for Kratom Capsules: Perhaps the easiest way to neutralize the bitter taste of kratom is to remove the ability to taste the flavor altogether. Do so with kratom capsules! You can’t taste the basic flavors of kratom if your kratom products pass right over your taste buds.

Kratom Spot: Finding the Right Flavors for You

Everyone is different, which means that everyone has specific needs. At Kratom Spot, we understand that what might work for someone’s kratom use might not work for someone else. That’s why we’re always developing new and exciting ways to make your kratom regimen easy, convenient, and enjoyable.

Stay up-to-date on all the latest kratom news and trends. If you ever have kratom-related questions or simply want to tell us how you neutralize the bitter taste, feel free to reach out to us! We’re always here to help and love hearing how the Kratom Spot family personalizes their kratom experience.