Haystack v4

Haystack v4:  Now milled with an upgraded milling process that makes this an ultra-fine powder!!!  Supply is very limited, so act fast - once v4 is gone, it may take a year or more to accumulate stem/vein fiber to create more.  For now, consider this the last of a successful run of stem/vein made in-house and never imported.

We always end up with either stem/vein fiber or small amounts of whole grind leaf material from each batch that we've attained over the years. It was our thought to put these together in a special, non-enhanced blend and offer it to our customers. Think of this stem/vein-heavy blend as a summary of the best we've offered throughout the years, but with the profile unique only to stem and vein. The feedback we've already received from many of our customers on the original Haystack was unanimously positive. Haystack v2 was a huge hit. Now, Haystack v4 is here, and with improved mechanical separation methods, it's even more pure of stem/vein fiber! 

This is a connoisseur offering for those who want to see what real stem & vein is all about.  This product is NOT imported from Indonesia.  It has been processed completely in-house from properly cured crushed leaf.  Haystack v4 is an accumulation of fiber that is sifted out of every leaf that runs through our own main milling station.  As an extra step, we also add pure, stripped central vein that includes some of the petiole that connects to the leaves, but there are no branches. This additional, pure central vein was stripped from leaf halfway through the curing process (before it was completely dried).  Over repeated milling and sifting cycles of our own in-house accumulated fiber, we have the ability to "capture" the fiber when it's at its most pure state, as the green leaf portion is able to be sieved off first.  Various mill types and methods are employed to prepare the fiber for best yields.  Because stem and vein fiber is extremely stubborn to all types of mills, it requires a low ambient mill room temperature and a very slow milling speed to prevent premature breaker resets on our equipment.  Creating Haystack v4 is a very labor-intensive process!  Even with both sources of stem/vein/fiber combined, only a limited amount of final material is created.

While you may come across less expensive "stem & vein" material, be aware that most in the market is not milled and sifted in the USA.  The most common we've witnessed is a powdered branch product pre-milled in Indonesia, often priced lower than even regular leaf, a reason to be skeptical.  Very few vendors actually mill their own crushed leaf, especially with new vendors coming to the market each year.  Many don't even sift the powdered material they receive (which was milled by someone else).  We've found that some stem powder is actually full of large branches, milled into sawdust, an easy filler to bulk up product.  Also, some material may be passed off as stem powder, yet consisting of brown leaves (which are a lot easier to mill than stems). True S&V material will be fluffy and have a crumbly texture, even with repeated runs through the milling and sifting process. The reason is because stem/vein has a unique fiber structure that sets itself apart from leaf cells or wood cells.  There are indeed differences between the profiles of sifted leaf, branch wood, and central vein  - this is true with any botanical specimen, not just Mitragyna speciosa.  We do not find imported stem powder to be preferable, and we will never stock it.  Our own in-house Haystack v4 creation is very popular and as good as it gets for a stem & vein product.  Our customers frequently tell us that they never find this quality in product elsewhere.