Kava

How do they make it?

Just curious.

Haven't actually tried it yet.

Traditionally you need a virgin (Tupou)to chew the kava root and then spit it into a bowl and stir. These days though you can get it in powdered form and just mix it with water

Generally the root is pounded into powder/mixed with water/drunk fresh.

In kastom villages in Tanna "virgins" still chew it, but they must be virgin boys who have not yet been polluted by women.
Women are not even allowed it see it being prepared or consumed!
Nor was I allowed to photograph it.
And it's the strongest kava I have had.
Two small shellfulls, and I had double vision.

The stuff elsewhere in Vanuatu and in Fiji was indeed made by pounding, and was very mild in comparision.

HI

i live in Fiji. Kava is made from the Yaqona plant which is uprooted and left in the sun to dry out the roots.
Then the roots are pounded into powder. The powder is put into a fine cloth and massaged in a tanoa (bowl) with little water.
This is done until the strength of the kava is right for you, adding as much/little of powder/water you want.

I like mine not too strong and made with ice water..yummy ... lol...

Elle

For the lay person, the yaqona plant is a type of pepper tree, "piper methysticum" or some Latin name like that.

In the old days in Fiji (20 yrs ago etc.) it all was made from the root. But a couple of yrs ago they were hawking "yaqona" made partly of leaves, bark, branches, etc. Really cheap stuff, probably not much effect at all.

On its own it is a "soporific", basically it mellows you out to about the same degree that caffeine in coffee wakes you up. But when mixed with saliva, i.e. chewed (not sure whether the virginity of the chewer matters), the saliva somehow magnifies the chemical ingredients in it, so it becomes almost a bit narcotic.

There is an interesting little book called "Kava Kava" (Samoan for yaqona, same plant) that describes this effect, and shows photos of long-time users with hives, welts, other skin lesions, etc., from using the "salivated" stuff. I think it was written about usage mainly in Vanuatu and/or the Solomons.

I used to bring it back to the US and we would have it mainly on Halloween night and other fun occasions. Use very cold water, crush the powder down into the bowl with a spoon to release the chemicals. After a couple of sips your lips and tongue become a little numb, and it's not hard to imagine that whatever is causing that is also causing one's brain to get a little mellow or numb, as well. Pretty harmless, actually, better than booze as I've rarely seen anyone on yaqona get violent, unlike many drunks.

I have some photos and the story on my BLOG... (Fiji, Savusavu entry)

I was told that the imported kava from Vanuatu was a lot stronger than the Fiji variety. Any truth to this?

I certainly found kava in Vanuatu stronger than in Fiji, though as noted above, there were differences within Vanuatu, too.

It tastes and looks rather like someone has washed their dirty socks in a water....and served in a cocnut shell cup.

Ok thanks!!

this leads on to another question (of course ;-) )

who makes the best Kava?

Samoan Kava is now also made with the powder and water... There is still much ceremony to it and it's making and partaking is an integeral part of many festivities and gatherings. If you drink lots of it as I did one Saturday afternoon with the owner of Regina's Fales on Savai'i, you'll have a very sleepy rest of the day.

The best Kava? I really don't know as I have only had Samoan and Tongan brews... Both sound pretty mild compared to the Vanuatu "Off to the Moon" kava experience.

Time to check out Vanuatu, Greg!

Had some stong stuff in a village last time....got sick.....maybe no one washed their hands.........beware.
Then it made me sleepy.

sunny regards,
shully

It's certainly on my "to do" list, Laszlo!!

I remember drinking much kava in Tonga where it was traditional for girls to serve it. Tastes like crap, makes your mouth and body feel somewhat numb and made me piss like a racehorse. Also drank much kava in Fiji. The kava that is dried and powdered is not that strong. I never saw people in Tonga and Fiji chew it the old fashioned way that Capt. Cook observed in the 18th century. However I left Port Vila in Vanuatu on my bicycle and rode clockwise until I stopped in a village for the night. The friendly people I stayed with wanted to know if I wanted to help chew the kava-you know the old fashioned way. I wasn't real excited about drinking everyone's saliva. This mix must have been atleast 3-5 times as powerful as the powered kind. I could be wrong but I'll bet the Tongan and Fijian kava would be as strong if you chew the just dug up kava and not dry it.

OK,

how much water to how much powder?

and what do you reckon would happen if you mixed it with alcohol before consumption?

enquiring minds want to know.

People often drink alcohol and Kava-sometimes @ the same session-but the root is never mixed directly with booze-won't work that way.
Or so I've been told.

We used about a tablespoon of kava powder for a cereal-bowl size, about two cups of water. If that doesn't make your lips numb, try it in a higher concentration.

According to the book, "Kava: Medicine Hunting in Paradise" by Chris Kilham, which is very good reading, one of the reason Vanuatu kava is so stong is that they grow the plant for several years before havesting while in Tonga and Samoa they harvest the roots after a couple of years growth. Aloha

When I stayed at a place I think was called the Coconut Inn near Nadi in 1975 (Yes! I'm an older dude!), I remember coming back from a night of pubing in Nadi and sitting down with an eldery night watch man. We sat around a kava bowl and he told us some stories from his life in the Yasawa's. One thing I remember was his story about how they dealt with peole who had broken a taboo that was punishible by death. When the person who had commited the serious offense was drinking his portion, the host would upset the kava bowl, spilling the contents on the ground. The supposed culprit would then die shortly afterwards. I would be interrested to know if anyone else has heard about this! I had just come from Australia, where I had read an article about 'the pointing of the bone', they seemed to be somewhat related.
I have had the kava in central Tanna (the chew kind) some years ago (pre, gag!, survivor), after 3 bowls (you have to spit the last bit towards the volcano), and it will give a buzz, which is a good thing!!
A friend of mine who grew up in Va'vau, Tonga, rembembers getting woken up at all hours of the night to make kava for her father and uncles, pissed her off!
When I travelled thru Vanuatu a few years back, they had Kava bars.

Henry

I remember the Coconut Inn from 1976, but it was the one in Suva.
Yes, if one spills kava/yaqona it usually means bad luck, this is from the locals I was drinking with in Fiji. Not sure if it means death, but maybe it used to be way back when...

My brother lives on Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia. My other brother and I visited him a year ago. To honor us, his landlord had a pig roast and sakau (Pohnpeian word for Kava) pounders were invited. Two or three young men simply pounded the roots, adding water from time to time. My brother and I were offered a glass. Sure does look like mud water to me! I just faked taking a drink, since I don't even drink alcohol. My brother drank all of his and asked for more. One of my island brother's local friends was there, and he'd had one glass too many. He had slowed down considerably, asking me the same questions over and over.

My island brother says that at the sakau (kava) bars, no women are allowed. I think it's because the wives don't trust their men to be around women at the bars.

We saw large glass containers of sakau being sold along the streets, for home consumption.

My island brother has gotten really sick a time or two drinking sakau that was probably made using dirty water.

And I think this is all I know. And more than you wanted to know!

If not getting sick is a priority, keep a close eye on how it's being made. Would you want the chewer to spit in your mouth, if it's being chewed? Exactly what is that cloth it's being wrung out in, if it's being squeezed? What was the squeezer doing with his hands before he put them in the bowl? Where did the water come from? Etc.
-
Kava is a weak thrill at best; certainly not worth wrecking a trip for if you get sick.

Some of the kava I had in Vanuatu must have been chewed by some of the least clean people and then pushed through some of the dirtiest cloth imaginable in the South Pacific. And it didn't make me sick - maybe I have a strong stomach?
Plus I don't even like kava at all, in fact I find it totally disgusting.

And still, the experiences made associated with driking these horrible kavas are among the most treasured ones from all my travels anywhere around the world. I am sure I would never have been treated the same way in Tanna in particular if I hadn't drunk that unhygienic kava, and hadn't spent those itchy nights in those flea-ridden men's houses. All that friendly talking, then sitting around with nambas-wearing "kastom men", "listening to the kava"...
I would repeat the experience happily any time, if only I weren't living as far from Vanuatu as I am! :-(

In contrast, drinking that dull, clean, weak kava in Fiji has left me with no remarkable memories at all.

For all their own, I guess.