New kava drink in stores

A nearby liquor store had a new beverage I hadn't heard of before: RZO. Its primary selling point is the inclusion of kava, that traditional Pacific drug of choice.

Not planning on trying it myself, but curious if anyone here has. Kava is banned in a few European countries for potentially causing liver failure in otherwise healthy people, but obviously here in the US we don't care about that. :)

Here's a link to the company website: http://rzokavadrink.com/

Upon further perusal it looks as if its only available in Colorado, Hawaii, and a single store in Lafayette, Louisiana.

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-07-01 14:53 ]

Whole Foods Market sells a variety of kava teas, extract, powder and whatnot. I didn't like it enough to buy another box once mine was done.
Most natural foods stores and vitamin shops sell variations of kava-kava if you're interested in trying it and you don't have a Whole Paycheck close by.

I see they finally got it on my island. I'll give it a try...

I know in Seattle pounded kava root has been available in the pacific island grogery market for decades, no fancy packaging or marketing required.

On 2013-07-01 14:51, TikiTacky wrote:
...
Kava is banned in a few European countries for potentially causing liver failure in otherwise healthy people, but obviously here in the US we don't care about that. :)
...

In 2001, Duke University Medical Center conducted two studies on kava extract. One study showed that kava is safe for the liver, causing no noticeable problems. The other study revealed that kava extract is as effective for the treatment of anxiety as the benzodiazepine class of drugs (Xanax, Valium), without the hazards caused by those medicines.
Out of the blue, one week prior to the publication of the Duke studies, a European-based report declared, contrary to all previous known medical science, that kava had caused liver toxicity in 21 people. Kava sales crashed, insurance companies panicked, European health regulators over-reacted and Pacific islanders were left with their pockets turned out. It took several years, and the dedicated efforts of many medical research teams to establish that the kava liver toxicity report was shoddy and baseless. But the damage to kava was done. To this day, despite absolutely no evidence of liver toxicity among kava drinkers, and despite liver safety demonstrated in medical studies, kava still carries the taint of concerns over liver toxicity.

Much like tattooing still carries the taint of Hepatitis, despite the fact that the famous NTC outbreak was caused by vaccinations given to soldiers by the good ol US of A.

On 2013-07-02 08:13, Hakalugi wrote:

On 2013-07-01 14:51, TikiTacky wrote:
...
Kava is banned in a few European countries for potentially causing liver failure in otherwise healthy people, but obviously here in the US we don't care about that. :)
...

In 2001, Duke University Medical Center conducted two studies on kava extract. One study showed that kava is safe for the liver, causing no noticeable problems. The other study revealed that kava extract is as effective for the treatment of anxiety as the benzodiazepine class of drugs (Xanax, Valium), without the hazards caused by those medicines.
Out of the blue, one week prior to the publication of the Duke studies, a European-based report declared, contrary to all previous known medical science, that kava had caused liver toxicity in 21 people. Kava sales crashed, insurance companies panicked, European health regulators over-reacted and Pacific islanders were left with their pockets turned out. It took several years, and the dedicated efforts of many medical research teams to establish that the kava liver toxicity report was shoddy and baseless. But the damage to kava was done. To this day, despite absolutely no evidence of liver toxicity among kava drinkers, and despite liver safety demonstrated in medical studies, kava still carries the taint of concerns over liver toxicity.

Thanks. I searched for the Duke study and found this information as well.

I tried Kava in a Samoan ceremony once, it was pretty strong but tasted pretty yuck. Kava root, powderized, worked and strained into a big bowl of tepid water. It made me kind of sleepy and there were slightly strange things going on visually. Then at night I had the WEIRDEST DREAMS I've ever had, and that's going some. Everything was geometric and colorful. It's probably one of the origins of a Tiki-style graphic sense...