[Kratom Review] - Jaya Kratom: West Borneo Red (30 grams)

I'm still a devoted Kratom user, y'all.  I apologize for the lack of updates and reviews on that front; I've just frankly been so underwhelmed with the kratom market since about mid-2017 I haven't bought anything new.  That's the last time I stocked up on a large supply from a previously primo Indo vendor, and it was bunk as could be.  Stateside stuff has been no better since the big popularity boom in 2016 following the DEA's announcement that the leaf would possibly be banned.  So yeah, after some of my fave vendors (VLNT, Canopy, Smiley Time) went to shit or quit taking reasonable payment methods, I got pretty butthurt.  Quality was the biggest issue by far, falling off dramatically after 2016-17.  

The rising demand drove new people into the Kratom farming business & forced them to start planting new Kratom trees and plucking the young leaves to keep up with demand.  Hence the shit-tier quality we see today.  (Most Indo farmers aren't Kratom users themselves, so it's not intentional in most cases.  The leaves on young plants look the same as old leaves on giant trees so there's no reason to suspect decreased quality).  Still, it sucks to spend big and get what might as well be Southeast Asian dirt.  I covered this in more detail here. 

Out of boredom and annoyance recently, I decided to search out some "old tree" Kratom vendors to see if such a thing even exists.  

Man scaling a Jaya Kratom tree 🍃

Enter Jaya Kratom, an Oregon-based company that claims to sell leaf harvested from old--sometimes REALLY old--trees.  I'm talking 50-75 years old.  I ordered the West Borneo Red leaf powder, which allegedly comes from 15+ year old trees and contains 1.98% total alkaloids.  The alkaloids tested for include:  mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, paynantheine, speciogynine, mitraphylline, speciociliantine & isorhynchophylline.  The website claims that the West Borneo Red is harvested no more often than every four months from a "secret grove" of elderly wild trees in West Borneo, which sounds legit.  As long as it doesn't have any weird shit added to it I'll be stoked.  I do see some glowing reviews, though the most recent is from 3 years ago.  Still better than 2017!

Jaya doesn't have a lot of exciting or exotic strains, but they DO offer 3rd party test results and alkaloid content percentages for each strain, which I'd prefer over a bunch of sketchy strain names that serve as nothing more than a marketing ploy.  Quality > variety every time, though I do wish they had more than 1 red strain for sale as I have no use for the other colors.  Since I already blew my "fun" budget on THCa this month, I went for the smallest option--30g.  If it's any good I'll grab more.  My goal is to get something that comes remotely close to the "golden era" of 2015-2017 when vendors like Canopy, Motark, Tan Welton, Krabot, Okie Kratom, DG & Benni's Botanicals were all the rage.  Honestly, I've reduced my kratom use by more than half since then, yet nothing has hit me even half as hard as the kratom from back then.  Sometimes I question whether it affects me at all or is entirely placebo effect.  😔🍃

My pack, exactly as I received it

I ordered Jaya 30g West Borneo Red on a Saturday evening (the 5th) and received it on a Monday morning (the 14th).  So not super fast shipping.  Only paid $12, which is totally fair and reasonable since there was no added shipping cost.  Packaging was discreet and, while there were no freebies, the little informational cards were a nice touch (see pics above and below). 

The smell is delightful--that typical Play Doh-like scent that a good red strain has.  I stirred an unknown amount into water and sipped periodically throughout the day like I usually do, beginning to feel the effects almost immediately.  The taste is mild and inoffensive and the effects are on point for a red:  smooth, mellow and warm with lots of opioid-esque pain relief and mood lift.  I might even be feeling a touch of the spins.  (That's a GOOD thing, as the leaf I've had has been so weak I haven't felt that in at least a year... maybe more).  

My air conditioner is currently busted and it's still in the high 90s-100s here, so nothing feels TOO stellar right now, but I definitely notice a measurable change in my mood and thinking since taking just a few swigs of this brew.  It's good to know some companies out there are still focused on quality, even if the price is a bit higher.  While lab tests are easily faked, I still appreciate the effort and attention to detail.  It's more than a lot of vendors are doing these days.  

Another Jaya infocard

Would I order from Jaya Kratom again?  If I didn't need the order in a hurry, yes.  The slow shipping is a drawback.  But if you don't need it immediately, this is a solid supplier of high-quality "old" Kratom from aged trees instead of those useless houseplants other vendors be selling.  My only complaint aside from the shipping speed would be the lack of strain choices for red-vein lovers (IDK why, but whites and greens are far too speedy for me in a nasty adrenergic way so I mostly avoid anything but red).  But as stated, if I had to choose between a few quality strains and a plethora of sketchy strains with suspect names like "Light Yellow Elephant" and "Pink Pucuk Maeng Da," I'll DEFINITELY choose the former.  

Effects:  4.8 of 5 stars

Shipping:  4.2 of 5 stars

Price:  4.6 of 5 stars

Packaging:  4.8 of 5 stars

Overall:  4.7 of 5 stars