String dried

[MycatTimmy]

I could really use an expert opinion about this as I’m not sure if I have this correct. Do I like the string dried strains because they still have the bones in them and the bones have a slightly different alkaloid profile ? Could I get the same effects of a string dried if I were to add some stem and vein in with a regular strain ? Thanks for allowing me to pick your brains

[gumbyke1]

We have done a great deal of research and consumer testing around this. We do string-dry some of our batches, but only in very specific scenarios. From all that we have learned, there is only 1 specific environmental condition positively contributes to a batch when string-dried. Usually, the difference otherwise is negligible... sometimes it even reduces the quality of the final product. For this reason - we do not even mention on our menu which batches are/are not string dried... I think the descriptor can mislead folks to believe it is automatically better quality.

It took me a while to find it, but I found a little blurb I wrote a while ago on string drying. Use the link below and scroll down to the post I made on 2/1 at 2:15pm.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1101&p=36894&hilit= ... ied#p36894

I also did a blurb on "stem and vein", you can find that as one of the last updates to my "Behind the Scenes" post.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2931


Something that should be noted is string-drying is labor-intensive and takes up a lot of physical space.

The labor part is not that big of a deal - the hourly wage of farm labor in Indonesia isnt anywhere near what it is here. However, when we compare sting-drying to other labor-intensive techniques in quality and sanitation, the string-drying process doesn't give you much bang for your buck (outside of that one specific environment I mentioned earlier).

The lack of physical indoor space is a big obstacle. It's very challenging to find an indoor space large enough to produce any meaningful quantities. We have tried a wide variety of different hanging techniques to try and make it work in smaller spaces.... we have yet to figure it out. The only time we are able to make sizable batches of it is when we leverage an indoor soccer field that is not in use. You really have to get creative here.

With all that said, I have to imagine that a lot of the vendors out there who offer it are not actually offering it. I'm not saying they are being intentionally dishonest, but if they are "hunting" for string dried kratom, without a doubt there will be many Indonesian suppliers that just so happen to specialize in it (wink wink). As a vendor - if you are actually getting string dried kratom, you are without doubt paying more for it. With that - I can't imagine any vendor would do so without asking for time-stamped evidence of its production (either photos or live video walkthrough). I think some vendors probably use it for marketing, but I wouldnt worry about that unless they are charging more for it. If you are purchasing from a vendor who charges more for their "string dried" varieties, I would ask them for pictures of its production. If they dont have them, I would wonder why.

The bottom line is outside of one specific situation - it's more of a novelty. There are better techniques to invest resources that will on average produce a better final product.

[acejestyr15]

We have done a great deal of research and consumer testing around this. We do string-dry some of our batches, but only in very specific scenarios. From all that we have learned, there is only 1 specific environmental condition positively contributes to a batch when string-dried. Usually, the difference otherwise is negligible... sometimes it even reduces the quality of the final product. For this reason - we do not even mention on our menu which batches are/are not string dried... I think the descriptor can mislead folks to believe it is automatically better quality.

It took me a while to find it, but I found a little blurb I wrote a while ago on string drying. Use the link below and scroll down to the post I made on 2/1 at 2:15pm.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1101&p=36894&hilit= ... ied#p36894

I also did a blurb on "stem and vein", you can find that as one of the last updates to my "Behind the Scenes" post.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2931


Something that should be noted is string-drying is labor-intensive and takes up a lot of physical space.

The labor part is not that big of a deal - the hourly wage of farm labor in Indonesia isnt anywhere near what it is here. However, when we compare sting-drying to other labor-intensive techniques in quality and sanitation, the string-drying process doesn't give you much bang for your buck (outside of that one specific environment I mentioned earlier).

The lack of physical indoor space is a big obstacle. It's very challenging to find an indoor space large enough to produce any meaningful quantities. We have tried a wide variety of different hanging techniques to try and make it work in smaller spaces.... we have yet to figure it out. The only time we are able to make sizable batches of it is when we leverage an indoor soccer field that is not in use. You really have to get creative here.

With all that said, I have to imagine that a lot of the vendors out there who offer it are not actually offering it. I'm not saying they are being intentionally dishonest, but if they are "hunting" for string dried kratom, without a doubt there will be many Indonesian suppliers that just so happen to specialize in it (wink wink). As a vendor - if you are actually getting string dried kratom, you are without doubt paying more for it. With that - I can't imagine any vendor would do so without asking for time-stamped evidence of its production (either photos or live video walkthrough). I think some vendors probably use it for marketing, but I wouldnt worry about that unless they are charging more for it. If you are purchasing from a vendor who charges more for their "string dried" varieties, I would ask them for pictures of its production. If they dont have them, I would wonder why.

The bottom line is outside of one specific situation - it's more of a novelty. There are better techniques to invest resources that will on average produce a better final product.

If I may ask... What is you opinion or thoughts on the success of SOSA being mostly a string dried small batch vendor?? He just hunts down the right strong dried batches you think?! Just curious...

[gumbyke1]

As a general rule, I will not share my opinions on how a specific vendor operates... in public or private. The reality is that unless they tell me how they operate, I have no idea about how they source their product. I can speculate, but speculating is just a fancy way to dress up the word "guess". Kratom is a really tough business - no vendor deserves to have their hard work tainted by the speculation of another vendor. Personally, I like Sosa and from what I know he has some good leaf and a loyal customer base. For me to speculate anything about his business would be irresponsible and... just gross.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of vendors in this industry who lack any kind of growth mindset and would jump at the chance to slander a competitor. Instead of celebrating the success of a peer, they feel threatened by them and want to try and bring them down. There is a big vendor on Mewe who talks smack out us (TFH) whenever somebody brings us up. Somebody once sent me a screenshot of a different vendor making false claims about us in a chat forum. What is really sad is that same vendor is somebody who has bought kratom from us many times for personal use. Our kratom is good enough for them, but not good enough for their potential customers.

I would say if you like a vendor's kratom, buy it! If the quality is good, I wouldnt overthink it unless you were paying a premium price for a feature like string-dried.

[Marcussk]

As a general rule, I will not share my opinions on how a specific vendor operates... in public or private. The reality is that unless they tell me how they operate, I have no idea about how they source their product. I can speculate, but speculating is just a fancy way to dress up the word "guess". Kratom is a really tough business - no vendor deserves to have their hard work tainted by the speculation of another vendor. Personally, I like Sosa and from what I know he has some good leaf and a loyal customer base. For me to speculate anything about his business would be irresponsible and... just gross.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of vendors in this industry who lack any kind of growth mindset and would jump at the chance to slander a competitor. Instead of celebrating the success of a peer, they feel threatened by them and want to try and bring them down. There is a big vendor on Mewe who talks smack out us (TFH) whenever somebody brings us up. Somebody once sent me a screenshot of a different vendor making false claims about us in a chat forum. What is really sad is that same vendor is somebody who has bought kratom from us many times for personal use. Our kratom is good enough for them, but not good enough for their potential customers.

I would say if you like a vendor's kratom, buy it! If the quality is good, I wouldnt overthink it unless you were paying a premium price for a feature like string-dried.

That is a very respectful answer. I always look out for your posts because they are always great. I'm also glad I was able to get a healthy stash of your leaf. Thank you for everything you do.

[fusedflora]

We have done a great deal of research and consumer testing around this. We do string-dry some of our batches, but only in very specific scenarios. From all that we have learned, there is only 1 specific environmental condition positively contributes to a batch when string-dried. Usually, the difference otherwise is negligible... sometimes it even reduces the quality of the final product. For this reason - we do not even mention on our menu which batches are/are not string dried... I think the descriptor can mislead folks to believe it is automatically better quality.

It took me a while to find it, but I found a little blurb I wrote a while ago on string drying. Use the link below and scroll down to the post I made on 2/1 at 2:15pm.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1101&p=36894&hilit= ... ied#p36894

I also did a blurb on "stem and vein", you can find that as one of the last updates to my "Behind the Scenes" post.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2931


Something that should be noted is string-drying is labor-intensive and takes up a lot of physical space.

The labor part is not that big of a deal - the hourly wage of farm labor in Indonesia isnt anywhere near what it is here. However, when we compare sting-drying to other labor-intensive techniques in quality and sanitation, the string-drying process doesn't give you much bang for your buck (outside of that one specific environment I mentioned earlier).

The lack of physical indoor space is a big obstacle. It's very challenging to find an indoor space large enough to produce any meaningful quantities. We have tried a wide variety of different hanging techniques to try and make it work in smaller spaces.... we have yet to figure it out. The only time we are able to make sizable batches of it is when we leverage an indoor soccer field that is not in use. You really have to get creative here.

With all that said, I have to imagine that a lot of the vendors out there who offer it are not actually offering it. I'm not saying they are being intentionally dishonest, but if they are "hunting" for string dried kratom, without a doubt there will be many Indonesian suppliers that just so happen to specialize in it (wink wink). As a vendor - if you are actually getting string dried kratom, you are without doubt paying more for it. With that - I can't imagine any vendor would do so without asking for time-stamped evidence of its production (either photos or live video walkthrough). I think some vendors probably use it for marketing, but I wouldnt worry about that unless they are charging more for it. If you are purchasing from a vendor who charges more for their "string dried" varieties, I would ask them for pictures of its production. If they dont have them, I would wonder why.

The bottom line is outside of one specific situation - it's more of a novelty. There are better techniques to invest resources that will on average produce a better final product.

If I may ask... What is you opinion or thoughts on the success of SOSA being mostly a string dried small batch vendor?? He just hunts down the right strong dried batches you think?! Just curious...

SOSA has been around for quite a bit, his customers continue to use his stuff. I think he's sourced well. Much like what I've tried from Chris, he/she has good quality, and am glad he succeeds. One has to understand, small quality vendors are extremely important to each other. It's like craft beer, small batches keeping the big kratom from turning into monopolies.

String drying has made little difference for me. I've had good string dried and bad. I've also had good rack dried and bad.

I regularly have a few batches string dried, and unless labeled as so, I do not see a significant increase to sales. Short, I would say a quality vendor is just that. String dried or not, quality and safety is most important and SOSA's record reflects.

[MycatTimmy]

Thank you so much for the well thought out, knowledgeable answers. I’ve read all of your articles Gumby and have learned a great deal. Thanks to everyone who takes the time and effort to share their knowledge with me. It’s greatly appreciated