First... I ordered 6 "sample" (30g) strains from them on Sunday (to guage where they are with quality because I haven't ordered from LIH in almost 2 years). Monday at 12:53pm I received an "Your order is complete" email with tracking information. Yesterday (Wednesday) I received my order. Even though I'm in New Jersey and they evidently ship out of Delaware now (not Long Island, NY), that quick of a turnaround time impressed me since I had them ship 1st Class (not Priority mail). I expected at least one or two more days for my order to arrive. But I guess that part of it is a thumbs-up to USPS and not necessarily the vendor. Nonetheless, I was still shocked I received it that quickly. But, in LIH's favor, considering Monday is probably a day to catch-up on weekend orders, I wouldn't have complained if my order wasn't processed until Tuesday morning... although I don't know how much business they are getting at the moment. And finally, their prices are excellent (we can still talk about pricing here, right? It's been a while since I've posted to this board. If I'm wrong, I apologize. Mods, please edit if necessary. ... I know, I know, this isn't Reddit, but I just want to be sure and not blattently break any forum rules without having to go back and read the entire FAQ again since I haven't been here for a few months
) $3.50 for most 30 gram samples. $70 for most Kilos. Although, Bentuangie is listed at only $65 for a Kilo... soooo, in retrospect, that may be a sign of what I'm about to describe with this strain. (I hadn't noticed that price per Kilo was $5 cheaper for Bent than their other strains when I ordered.)Now onto the review of Bentuangie from LIH Tea Company (which is a Red strain, as described on their website): Here's a couple pics:
Note (for those wondering): Sometimes I transfer my Kratom to other containers so I can get a better look at and "examine" the powder and also quite often it's easier to scoop-out and weigh when it's not in a bag (which is especially the case for smaller sample-sized pouches).
So, last night I tried my normal 4 gram dose with LIH's Bentuangie. I wouldn't exactly call the grind coarse, but it's not the finest grind I've seen either. The color is a little lighter shade of red than I would expect from good quality Red Vein Bentuangie (that might be the second sign). And the taste was not bad, although I've gotten used to pretty much not tasting my Kratom when I toss-n-wash. It went down easy.
After 45 minutes, I didn't feel even the slightest hint of effect (ya' know, how you can sense onset is approaching evening though it hasn't yet...). 1 hour after dosing, still nothing. My back pain was still in full effect. No shift in mood. Not even a tease of sedation. Not even a yawn. At that point I figured maybe this batch isn't as strong as what I'm used to from other vendors, so I redosed 2 more grams. That's 6 grams in 1 hour. Another hour later... NOTHING! A wasted dose(s), in my opinion. OK, fine. I chalked it up to maybe my evening / nighttime doses sometimes don't "hit" as hard as my morning doses (hell, this didn't even poke me, much less "hit" me).
To be fair, I decided to give it another chance this morning. I woke up with excruciating back pain and needed some relief. This time I started with 6 grams (2g more than my normal dose). Over an hour later, NOTHING. Now I'm desperate and probably made a stupid decision... I redosed 4 addition grams (that's a total of 10 frickin' grams in just over an hour! Which I never do! I even wrote in my notes: "I better not get sick!" (which I never have in 3 years of using Kratom). 90 minutes after that... maybe the ever so slightest of pain relief. Maybe! Well, at this point I'm really second-guessing myself. "Maybe my tolerance is screwed up." "But I need some relief here." So I tried 4 grams of tried-and-trusted "Elephant" from Kraydo Organics. That was at 9am. At 10am I wrote in my notes: "Now THAT'S how my Kratom should work!" It's now 4 hours since I dosed Kraydo's Elephant and my back pain is barely noticeable... Focus is great... Pleasant mood. You know the deal, when you take good quality Kratom.
So, in conclusion, I'm chalking-up LIH's Bentuangie to being of extremely poor quality. And I hate to say it, but I think they know it. (I'm speculating that.) Like I said, the Kilo price is cheaper and I forgot to mention, when I emptied out my 30g bag and weighed it, it was actually 38 grams. That should have been another clue. But when I weighed it I thought it was a mistake or they were just being "generous". Silly me! But thanks for the extra 8 grams. ... By the way, I weighed the other 5 unopened bags (the bag itself weighs approximately 4.5 grams). 3 of them were 1 to 2 grams over the listed amount (30g) and 2 of them were actually 1-2 grams under the listed amount. That's not a big deal to me since I realized some vendors might "scoop-out" their product rather than weigh it. Consistencies make weights vary. I get that. That just makes the "8 additional grams" of Bentuangie even more suspect, since they are pretty much spot-on with their other strains.
Anyway, I still have 5 more strains to try from this order from LIH: "Green Elephant", "Green Kali MD", "White Borneo MD", "Red Borneo MD" and "Yellow Borneo MD". I have "semi" high hopes for the Green Elephant since it's listed for $4 per 30g sample instead of their normal $3.50 for others. I'll try to have no expectations for the other four.
LIH, if you're reading this (I know you've been known to read this forum), I'm not trashing your company or your product as whole. Not yet at least. That wouldn't be fair. I haven't tried everything. And I pointed out positives too. Your bags (at least for 30g samplers) are awesome. They're sturdy. Resealing is great. Like I said, processing was prompt. Shipping was better than expected. But your Bentuangie (or "Bent", as listed on your website)... No bueno! At least in MY experience. And to be fair, I'll even try it again at some point. I'll try slightly lower than my normal dose... Maybe 3 grams next time.
In conclusion, usually I would never be this quick to post a review... especially a negative one. I usually give it much more of a chance. But I can tell that this one is just a dud... Especially when I tried a dose from another vendor and that one did what it was "supposed to do". So, I know in this case the problem is not me. I will be trying those other 5 strains, folks... Just not today. Probably not tomorrow either.
TL/DR: Has anyone else here had a similar experience with LIH's "Bent"? Please let me know... Even if it was a positive experience. I want to know. Thanks for reading (and reading... and reading... and reading.)
