Getting to Know Hill Country Kratom

A couple of weeks ago, Dominic from Hill Country Kratom contacted me about trying some samples. I'm fairly selective about the vendors with whom I choose to do business, but Dominic really caught my attention. Hill Country Kratom is based in central Texas, so I'm always eager to pump some money back into the local economy. What really stood out, though, was the great relationship that Hill Country Kratom (HCK) has with their farmer in Indonesia. The farmer that supplies kratom for HCK is a teacher as well, and some of the proceeds from HCK's sales are donated to the school where the farmer teaches. How cool! Needless to say, I was enthusiastic to try some samples, and help promote the business a bit.

Dominic sent me two varieties to try: Red Maeng Da and Green Vein. The Green Vein was definitely outstanding. I took it before my son's basketball game on a Saturday, and was feeling social, energized, and ready to take on the world. Normally, I'm pretty sluggish on Saturdays (by choice), but this was a nice change. The Red Maeng Da wasn't super noteworthy, but that may have had more to do with my condition at the time, as I wasn't feeling particularly well. I don't fault the strain for this.

I was impressed by Hill Country Kratom and Dominic. I'm going to place my next bulk order with them, so that I can get a good sampling or their product over a period of a month. I'm also going to give the Red Maeng Da another try! Hill Country Kratom is a vendor worth checking out, and they are doing good things for the world. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my money get reinvested into education!

A PayPal Alternative for Kratom Vendors?

Given PayPal's less-than-stellar reputation and refusal to do business with kratom vendors, I'd be interested in kratom vendors giving Dwolla a serious look. I am aware that Bikhuk takes payments through Dwolla, but haven't encountered any other vendors that use it.

Dwolla is a secure alternative to using credit cards to make purchases online, and their fees are lower than PayPal's. It would be nice to see a few vendors implement Dwolla, especially for those of us who have been burned using our credit cards online.

Dwolla doesn't know I exist, and they aren't paying me to refer vendors to use their service. I'm only mentioning them because they're the main viable alternative to PayPal of which I'm aware, and I would like to see vendors look at alternatives to PayPal.

Coastal Kratom

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Robert from Coastal Kratom. Robert reached out to me through Facebook to tell me how much he appreciated this blog, and the traffic that the Trusted Kratom Vendors page brings to him. Coastal Kratom wasn't listed specifically on that page, but was mentioned several times in the comments, which apparently brought him enough traffic to check out my little site. Robert very generously offered to send me some samples of his kratom, and I gratefully accepted that offer.

The Coastal Kratom product is outstanding. In particular, I fell in love with the Bright Eyes Bali and the Premium Plantation Bali, the latter of which is currently giving me a shot of energy, clarity, and sense of well-being as I write this review. The other samples were some of the best I've sampled as well, but the two aforementioned items really stood out.

Coastal Kratom sends their product in bottles, which is a convenient way of keeping your strains separately. My usual way of labeling various glass bottles works fine, but it's nice to see someone else take this into consideration as well. The only issue I had with the bottles was that the mouth of each bottle was just a bit too narrow for my measuring spoons (I use teaspoon/tablespoons as opposed to measuring specific amounts), and trying to fill the spoons by dispensing the kratom from the bottles proved to be a bit messy. Ultimately, I ended up transferring the kratom from the small bottles provided by Coastal Kratom, to my glass bottles. Not everyone would have the same issue I had, and it's great to see how these folks take the time to package the product so thoughtfully. It's a nice touch, and I almost feel silly for bringing up this minor issue.

Coastal Kratom hadn't previously made my list of trusted vendors because their price range exceeded my monthly kratom budget. (The criteria I used to build the list was price, service, and product quality.) I was very forthcoming about the cost to Robert, who was understanding. I will likely purchase smaller amounts from Coastal Kratom when I'm looking for some variety -- or that terrific Plantation Bali! If your budget permits, I highly recommend Coastal Kratom for their service and quality. Again, I extend my gratitude to Robert and Coastal Kratom for the generous offer.

Proceed with Caution

One of the perils of using your credit card for purchases is credit card theft. I recently tried out a new vendor whose prices and kratom were very good. Several days after receiving my order, there was a fraudulent charge that appeared on our bank statement, charged to the card that I used to purchase from this particular vendor. It wouldn't be fair to disclose the name at this point, because I can't conclusively trace the charge back to the vendor. I'll be reaching out to the vendor to let them know what happened and to try and see if there was a breakdown somewhere on their end. Thankfully, we discovered the charge quickly and were able to close the card in question.

This is a very busy time of year for buying. Keep tabs on your purchases, and be sure that vendors are using the latest SSL encryption to ensure your credit card information is secure. Also, a PCI-compliant vendor is held to higher standards with respect to retention of personally identifying information. Some vendors will advertise PCI compliance, but if you're not sure, a quick e-mail to the vendor can give you the information you need to make a smart purchase.

Another thing that would help keep online transactions safe is for services like PayPal to understand that Kratom is not some kind of dangerous street drug. Though I continue to use PayPal for online purchases, I find their stance regarding Kratom to be abhorrent. It is a stance supported by ignorance alone, and it's disappointing that a modern corporation, presumably designed to make people's lives easier would be so tone-deaf on this issue. I encourage you to take the time to write them a well-thought-out letter about what Kratom has meant to you, and how their stance has affected you.

Happy Holidays to all, and be safe!

Kratom Delivery

One of the vendors I use regularly, Mood & Mind, was kind enough to send me some free samples, due to the traffic this blog generates for them. This blog originally started as a single page on my main site. I had no idea that it would become anything useful, much less be seen by more than a few folks. The package arrived today, and in it was included a package of stevia extract powder, and not the kind of stevia you find in your typical grocery store. As Mood & Mind indicates in their description:

PLEASE NOTE!: MOST STORE BOUGHT STEVIA AND ALL STEVIA PACKET PRODUCTS CONTAIN FILLERS (DEXTROSE, MALTODEXTRIN, ETC), BINDERS, OR SWEETENERS SUCH AS ERYTHRITOL THAT DILUTE THE STEVIA. THIS IS NOT THE SAME PRODUCT, AND IS PURE STEVIA EXTRACT! IF YOU ARE ACCUSTOMED TO STEVIA PRODUCTS THAT CONTAINS THESE FILLERS, PURE STEVIA EXTRACT MAY SEEM VERY STRONG. SOME PRODUCTS SUCH AS "NOW" BRAND STEVIA, ETC ARE LABELED "STEVIA EXTRACT", BUT ACTUALLY CONTAIN FILLERS.

Indeed, this is super, super sweet. It's so sweet, in fact, that a quarter of a teaspoon was almost too sweet mixed in with my kratom tea. Needless to say, I'll only be using an eighth of a teaspoon the next time! A little bit goes a long way, and I recommend trying some pure stevia extract the next time you're looking to sweeten your kratom tea!

I am most grateful to Mood & Mind for their generosity.