Before kratom is a fine green powder, it is a leaf. Quite a large one, in fact: the Mitragyna speciosa is a tropical tree that can grow up to twenty-five metres tall, with glossy leaves the size of your hand. If you understand what happens between tree and packaging, you also understand why one kratom is not the other.
Family of the coffee plant
Kratom and coffee are related: both belong to the Rubiaceae. That explains why the comparison with a strong cup of coffee comes up so often when users describe the character of white kratom.
The harvest: looking for the right leaf
In Indonesia, where virtually all kratom comes from, farmers pick the leaves by hand. The moment of picking matters: young leaf has a different alkaloid profile than mature leaf. The veins in the leaf have a colour, and that vein colour is the basis of the names red, green and white you see on packaging.
Drying and fermenting: where the character is born
After harvest the leaves are dried, indoors or outdoors, briefly or at length, with or without fermentation. That processing determines at least as much as the leaf itself. Red leaf is fermented, which gives Red Maeng Da its warm character. White leaf is picked young and dried for a long time in the dark, as with our White Maeng Da. Green sits in between.
From leaf to powder
The dried leaves go through a mill to become the fine powder in the bag. With good quality, the veins and stems are removed first: they contain few alkaloids and only make the powder coarser. Fine, even powder without hard bits is a sign of careful processing.
Why fresh leaf does not exist here
In Southeast Asia, fresh leaf was traditionally chewed. That does not work in the Netherlands: fresh leaf spoils quickly and does not survive the journey. Everything you buy here is dried and ground, and that is fine, as long as the powder is kept dry, dark and airtight. Curious about the tradition behind it? See kratom strains and varieties.
This article is informational and not medical advice. We make no health claims about kratom. Do not use it during pregnancy or breastfeeding, when taking medication (consult your doctor first) or under the age of 18.