Kava

I am curious to know if any Tiki Central members are, like myself, frequent users of kava?

I discovered kava about seven years ago and have become an ardent believer in its use -- both for medicinal purposes (nothing works better for me to relieve tension or migraine headaches or to soothe over-worked muscles) and for “recreational” purposes (I frequently mix up bowls of kava to serve at our home tiki parties as an alternative to those who don’t drink alcohol. My wife and I rarely drink alcohol these days -- in fact, I limit myself to only drinking on special occasions, such as New Year’s Eve parties or other “milestone” events; my wife and I are the ones in the tiki bar who order all of our drinks “virgin”).

I have found that kava gives me all of the “benefits” that alcohol does, with none of the atrocious side-effects caused by frequent or overuse of alcohol (I do not handle hangovers well at all!).

I use kava in both capsule and powder form. Since good kava is becoming increasingly harder to find on my local store shelves these days, I have started purchasing my kava capsules from a great outlet located in Hawaii that grows their own. And I order the powdered root directly from a great little company in Vanuatu (the “birthplace” of kava, according to all of the histories I have read) that has some of the most potent stuff I’ve ever drunk!

Your thoughts, experiences?

Sailor Curt

We haven't talked about Kava for a few years, so now might be a good time to bring it up again for all the newer users. Here are two old threads:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=836&forum=10

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1779&forum=10

I think we should move the thread to Food & Drinks, though.

Sabu

We haven't talked about Kava for a few years, so now might be a good time to bring it up again for all the newer users. I think we should move the thread to Food & Drinks, though.

Ooops, I should have done a search! My bad!

I started to put this thread in Food & Drinks, but wasn't really sure if it was the right forum or not.

Admin, please move to the most appropriate area. Thank you!

I know that the recipe for my "Cannibal" cocktail, which mixes rum and Kava, has been posted here on Tiki Central for some time. I think it is in the Contest thread, the same contest which gave us the Reverb Crash and Jab's Knockout Punch. I have been admonished by some to post a disclaimer about it.

When I developed this cocktail I was blissfully unaware of the potential hazards of mixing Kava and Alcohol. It's not like mixing Tylenol and alcohol, it can actually make you sick. As many times as I drank that cocktail I only got sick once, but it was sick enough to clue me in that I should never mix it again. Those investigating the Kava threads who find that drink recipe should be forewarned: mix at your own risk! It is a very exotic and tasty cocktail, but drinking it is kind of playing Russian roulette. Maybe that's Fijian Roulette.

When I developed this cocktail I was blissfully unaware of the potential hazards of mixing Kava and Alcohol. It's not like mixing Tylenol and alcohol, it can actually make you sick.

Excellent point. I might also add that my experience has been that mixing alcohol and kava is counterproductive to enjoying the effects of the kava alone, i.e., the alcohol totally “over-rides” the more subtle effects of kava and doesn’t really (again, in my opinion) compliment each other very well. (Your mileage may vary).

My suggestion is to enjoy kava the way it has been enjoyed for thousands of years in the Pacific islands: drink a couple of shells in the company of close friends, preferably in some quiet, tropical or other eye-catching setting. Those who do will experience one of the most intense of all “natural” grooves that there is: instant “island time” in the mind, no matter where you happen to be!

Sailor Curt

...one more kava thread...
A couple questions about Kava

In Austin, TX there is a kava bar that opened up in May 2012. They do not serve alcohol. It's called SquareRüt and is on South Congress Avenue, of course.
From looking at the pictures it looks like a minimalist modern Poly Pop kind of place. They do have some tiki's and a bamboo bar.
You can get plain or flavored kava in shells or ceremonial bowls. I've had kava and I didn't like the taste so flavored sounds like a good option.
Their About page has some kava information.
http://squarerut.com/about
Maybe it's time to visit my sister in Austin so I can check SquareRüt out.