The Process

Harvesting Kawakawa

We harvest our kawakawa from both our own property and neighbouring forests. We only take what leaves we need, particularly those with holes, as a local tohunga advised us that they contain higher concentrations of the active ingredients.

Traditionally the kawakawa is left to wilt overnight to reduce the moisture content, but we use a dehydrator on low to speed up this process.

The Oil

The next day, we finely chop the leaves (discarding the stems) and place them in a double boiler. We're able to do this in larger quantities now, but at first, it was in a pot on the oven!

We pour in just enough oil to cover the kawakawa, and heat it gently for about 4 hours, stirring gently every half an hour. We monitor the temperature carefully at this stage so that it doesn't go over 60°C or the medicinal constituents will diminish - we currently use an induction cooktop to control this stage as it gives us precise temperature control.

After 4 hours, we remove the oil from the heat and allow it to cool. It is then strained through muslin into large sterilised jars, squeezing the muslin to extract as much of the oil from the leaves as possible. We can now store this until we produce our individual products.

The Salve

We melt beeswax in a separate double boiler and gently heat until melted. We add the kawakawa infused oil at a 3:17 ratio, and mix well. We then allow the mixture to cool slightly, but not enough to solidify, and then add our calendula essential oil (at a 2:100 mix).The mixture is then poured into 50ml glass jars, and allowed to cool, and set, completely before screwing on the lid.

Note

Some other producers of kawakawa products leave their kawakawa infusing in oil for several days - we have observed no appreciable difference in the concentration of medical ingredients in the salve between 4 hours and 4 days. In fact, after 72 hours, the concentration of Myristicin starts to diminish.

Similarly, other products use a kawakawa essential oil in their products. Again, if the temperature goes over 60°C, the medicinal constituents will diminish - and most essential oils, particularly smaller batch ones, use steam distillation. We have tried this method ourselves, again testing the concentration of ingredients, and find this method far inferior to infusion.

Click here for our independent testing results, and see for yourself.