What is kratom?

Kratom is the dried and powdered leaf of a tree in Indonesia.  It's used by the natives by chewing the raw leaf to give an overall sense of wellbeing, pain relief, energy, and even mood lifting effects.  The cause of these effects and benefits are plant-based chemicals called "Alkaloids" which you may know from coffee (Caffiene), tobacco (Nicotine) and medical marijuana (Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC).

Pictured below, you can see the stem/vein of the leaves can have a variation of colors.  Usually red, green, and white:

It's well known in the Kratom community that each vein color has different benefits. This is due to the alkaloids being in different concentrations which tend to be similar in the vein color between varieties. 

Another factor is the region where the tree is growing.  Different soils, amount of water, humidity, and several other factors can result in different amounts of the alkaloids, even different alkaloids altogether!  Indonesia, Bali, Vietnam, Jong Kong, and many other areas in the region have all cultivated, dried and cured, and imported the powder all around the world.

"Maeng Da" is a very popular variety of Kratom though it's not actually a region like the others.  In Thai, "Maeng Da" translates to "Pimp Grade" which is usually given to the best and highest quality tree and leaves.  The general info from many sources on the effects of each strain is as follows:

Green Vein:  Energy, motivation, focus.  The ability to get through hard work for several hours and it feel effortless, easy, and make the time fly.

White Vein:  Focus, drive, euphoria.  The thinking mans kratom, helping make difficult and mind-boggling tasks seem easier to understand and much more pleasant to sit down and work on for long periods of time.

Red Vein:  Calming, relaxing, pain relieving.  From mildly to powerfully sedating, chronic pain seems less debilitating and relaxation or sleep comes easier.

There is no easy chart for the regional differences though.  A white Indo may be more sedating than a white Borneo where a green Indo is more energetic than a green Borneo.  The best method is to try each a couple times to see which best fits the mood you want to have for the day.  Please ask for a free sample of another strain when buying any of our kratom strains!