Testing/Buying Strategy

[Salo]

I was curious as to how different folks go about testing new batches from trusted vendors? To be cost effective and keep from missing out on small batch strains do you go ahead and buy split kilos, getting some strains you have liked before and some new ones? Taking on the risk of getting some strains that don’t work for you. Or do you pay the additional costs to buy samples first and take your time methodically testing them? Taking on the risk of missing small batches and potentially paying more. Or do you go about it in a totally different way? I have been going about it both ways, but I haven’t built up enough experience to see which way works better. Thanks!

[g0ldl10n]

Honestly, I just buy half or whole kilo splits and add a couple strains I want to try, and include a couple I know I've liked in the past. Issue with any of this is batches of the same strain can vary so greatly, that the same strain may not work for you next time, while a strain (batch)/color that doesn't normally do much is amazing.

Also, I've come to find out that even if I get some that doesn't do much for me on its own, 99% of the time it can become very useful in a blend. Just take my notes on each blend so I remember. But I used to put Kratom I didn't like at the bottom of the shelf, but blending has made me realize most, if not ALL of my Kratom is very useful.

[gumbyke1]

That is certainly a great question - and a game I do not miss playing. One of the strategies I used to employe is I would immediately order 100g samples from the vendor the day they got their shipment in. That way I could be one of the first to discover a strain was high quality, and hopefully be able to purchase some more before everyone else gets to it. Make sure you ask the vendor to verify that what you want to order is the EXACT same batch... but even when you do that you may not get the same thing.


Consistency between batches can vary greatly depending on the vendor. Some of the better vendors that are popular on this forum have a pretty decent ability to maintain the consistency of certain strains. However, most vendors are ordering kratom blindly- meaning they have no idea where their kratom actually comes from (even though they think they do). If you have a vendor who's strains are wildly different from batch to batch, you should maybe consider disregarding the strain names altogether.




Obviously following the "word on the street" in this forum can be helpful. Just don't get too upset if that doesn't work all of the time. I can tell you with absolute certainty (and have the data to prove) that with kratom, one person's treasure is another person's trash.

Happy hunting!

PS -you just gave me an idea of what I am going to write about next in my "behind the scenes post"

[fusedflora]

Some vendors offer 25g and send out samples with their 100g offerings.

But the best way is to just communicate you needs. Good vendors will recommend what they feel is good for you if you chat with them, best to have a customer coming back, just tell them what you're looking for and provide feedback if what they send doesn't match what you need. At least that's what I do.

[Salo]

That is certainly a great question - and a game I do not miss playing. One of the strategies I used to employe is I would immediately order 100g samples from the vendor the day they got their shipment in. That way I could be one of the first to discover a strain was high quality, and hopefully be able to purchase some more before everyone else gets to it. Make sure you ask the vendor to verify that what you want to order is the EXACT same batch... but even when you do that you may not get the same thing.


Consistency between batches can vary greatly depending on the vendor. Some of the better vendors that are popular on this forum have a pretty decent ability to maintain the consistency of certain strains. However, most vendors are ordering kratom blindly- meaning they have no idea where their kratom actually comes from (even though they think they do). If you have a vendor who's strains are wildly different from batch to batch, you should maybe consider disregarding the strain names altogether.




Obviously following the "word on the street" in this forum can be helpful. Just don't get too upset if that doesn't work all of the time. I can tell you with absolute certainty (and have the data to prove) that with kratom, one person's treasure is another person's trash.

Happy hunting!

PS -you just gave me an idea of what I am going to write about next in my "behind the scenes post"

I’d be lying, if I didn’t admit I feel pretty honored to be able to contribute in any way to your behind the scenes post!

[BallzDeep9]

Obviously following the "word on the street" in this forum can be helpful. Just don't get too upset if that doesn't work all of the time. I can tell you with absolute certainty (and have the data to prove) that with kratom, one person's treasure is another person's trash.

Interesting. So what does that say, about the value of "Reviews" ?

I mean it seems like, MOST of the posts around here, are people looking for the latest hype, and debating what's "good". When it's all subjective anyway, if anyone says THIS is "good" I can say OK prove it.. they can't prove anything. Then another guy comes along, and says it's average & dont work for me etc

That's NOT saying: Its All The Same. Not at all... But differences are small, and subjective, and there's a lot of religion and placebo too. Or maybe the reviewer, ate something for breakfast that changed effects, to feel a bit better or worse...

[Celestial-Oceanic]

Obviously following the "word on the street" in this forum can be helpful. Just don't get too upset if that doesn't work all of the time. I can tell you with absolute certainty (and have the data to prove) that with kratom, one person's treasure is another person's trash.

Interesting. So what does that say, about the value of "Reviews" ?

I mean it seems like, MOST of the posts around here, are people looking for the latest hype, and debating what's "good". When it's all subjective anyway, if anyone says THIS is "good" I can say OK prove it.. they can't prove anything. Then another guy comes along, and says it's average & dont work for me etc

That's NOT saying: Its All The Same. Not at all... But differences are small, and subjective, and there's a lot of religion and placebo too. Or maybe the reviewer, ate something for breakfast that changed effects, to feel a bit better or worse...

This. A lot of hype..."This is the best kratom I'm had in my three years of burning". A lot of hyping "strains"...have you tried the new Purple Oompa Loompa? Its harvested only on full moons in a grove of old trees where unicorns congregate...very small batches.

Truth is, most everything I've bought is quite good, and the best ones are just called Green Maeng Da...so its whatever.

Funny thing, people read Gumby's " Behind the Scenes" post, which is full of truths, many things a few of us have known for some time, then disregard that valuable info in order to hype some "totally unique, exclusive strain" by the new flavor of the week vendor.

[javagurl62]

I've been jumping right into split keys and split halfs lately due to the dry season. Of course I only do this with vendors I've bought from before and had success with before. I find that most 'good' reviews of particular strains end up being 'good' for me as well. There have been exceptions, though. The one that comes to mind is Yellow Vietnam. I kept trying it again to no avail. It just didn't work for me. Fortunately I didn't buy a big bag of it and the blending rule is a good rule to follow