verticity
I'm interested in things
@kasa_balavu and @nabanga thank you for the answers. @kasa_balavu I'm sorry if my question dredged up (no pun intended) difficult memories for you. Yikes.
Kava Culture Vanuatu 2015
- Thread starter sɥɐʞɐs
- Start date
kasa_balavu
Yaqona Dina
lol, no worries.
Great pictures, thanks so much for sharing them, I hope that you had a great time in Vanuatu and I hope that you did not drink all the kava over there, leaving them with a shortage.
Aloha.
Chris
Aloha.
Chris
Not without trying, just couldn't seem to make a dent. In some areas you can be at a nakamal and see 3 more active nakamals within walking distance.Great pictures, thanks so much for sharing them, I hope that you had a great time in Vanuatu and I hope that you did not drink all the kava over there, leaving them with a shortage.
Aloha.
Chris
I buzzed by the big island a couple times in transit and reached my arm longingly toward the window, as if to grab some fresh kava from you as I passed.
It really would have been useful, 6 hours into an 11 hour flight.
Kojo Douglas
The Kavasseur
Laos sounds cool too!
Just thought I'd add my general view of the fresh kava consumption in Vanuatu. I'll put it here and under my picture threads as well.
In general, I'll say kava is kava. Drinking fresh ni-van kava is unquestionably better, in every way, but it's still just kava and not a drastically different experience.
The best way I can describe it, is that every negative attribute is lessened, while all the positives are more easily attained. The taste is less bitter and easier to drink, but it does still taste like kava. There is some difficult to describe 'sparkle' to the flavor that seems unique to the fresh experience. A few months ago I had some fresh frozen Hawaiian kava, it had a distinct cucumber/vegetable juice flavor that I didn't taste so much in the fresh Vanuatu stuff. A lot of the stuff I tasted in Vanuatu had similar flavors to each other, but differed in the strength or 'depth of flavor'. There was one odd and heavy kava I had that had a strange soured finish, I think it may have been old kava, but I'm not sure.
The buzz was very easy to attain, as opposed to the trouble I have 'getting there' at home, with my dry powders. Although nausea was certainly still possible after enough shells, it was overall less nauseating, less bloating and less heavy feeling on the guts. Those things are huge obstacles for me and my personal body chemistry, when drinking dry powder. It's often bad enough to hinder me from enjoying or feeling the experience completely. It was 80-90% improved when drinking fresh kava. I'm guessing this must be due to having a higher kavalactone content while simultaneously having less root particles/sediment in the beverage. Which isn't how things work when I brew up dry stuff.
The whole feeling was generally lighter, easier and more blissful than the majority of my dry experiences, while also being generally stronger per shell and more consistent.
It appears the best time to get kava at the nakamal would be between 4pm-7pm...many places can sell out, but it seems there's always another place to go if it does.
The hacking, hawking and spitting is in full force...it actually is fairly effective at getting some of the taste out of your mouth. Next time you have a shell, go spit in a white sink afterwards and you'll see persistent brown kava-laced saliva is in your mouth forcing you to keep tasting the flavor. Beyond that, there seems to be something in fresh kava
more so than dry, that creates the need for hacking and hawking. I never felt this with dry, but many of the fresh kavas would create a phlegm/mucous build up in your throat that demands to be hawked. My bus driver/nakamal buddy told me this is normal. "In Vanuatu before kava, nobody cough. After kava, everyone coughing coughing."
Most shells are either 100 vatu or 150 vatu, which is about .90 cents to $1.33 USD. You aren't limited to these sizes though, as you can can basically hand the vendor anything and tell them how many Vatu you want to pay...and they will fill accordingly. I'd say the 100v shell would be about 6 gulps while the 150v shell is closer to 8 or 9. I found that anytime a local walked me to a nakamal they wanted to buy me a shell, I always made sure to reciprocate even though I don't think it was expected at all. They also all seemed concerned if I didn't have something to eat afterwards and would encourage me to take something of theirs to eat.
Mornings always felt fresh, even the couple times I drank suspiciously heavy kava. As far as Tudei conversations with locals (who of course don't know the science),
I was simply told things like "No, no don't drink the Tudei plant, that is no good". "Oh the yellow kava, that is no good for drink". "Tudei kava make you feel bad and no good in the morning, other kava make you feel fresh and when you wake up you feel more smart". Their point of view seems to be based simply on hating the effects of Tudeis.
If I had the option, I would drink fresh kava exclusively. Having seen and done a few of the external adventures in Vanuatu now, I can see why @nemo is okay with traveling there simply to hang around Vila drinking kava and not much else. If I were in closer proximity, I would certainly bip over on whims now and do the same thing.
The best way I can describe it, is that every negative attribute is lessened, while all the positives are more easily attained. The taste is less bitter and easier to drink, but it does still taste like kava. There is some difficult to describe 'sparkle' to the flavor that seems unique to the fresh experience. A few months ago I had some fresh frozen Hawaiian kava, it had a distinct cucumber/vegetable juice flavor that I didn't taste so much in the fresh Vanuatu stuff. A lot of the stuff I tasted in Vanuatu had similar flavors to each other, but differed in the strength or 'depth of flavor'. There was one odd and heavy kava I had that had a strange soured finish, I think it may have been old kava, but I'm not sure.
The buzz was very easy to attain, as opposed to the trouble I have 'getting there' at home, with my dry powders. Although nausea was certainly still possible after enough shells, it was overall less nauseating, less bloating and less heavy feeling on the guts. Those things are huge obstacles for me and my personal body chemistry, when drinking dry powder. It's often bad enough to hinder me from enjoying or feeling the experience completely. It was 80-90% improved when drinking fresh kava. I'm guessing this must be due to having a higher kavalactone content while simultaneously having less root particles/sediment in the beverage. Which isn't how things work when I brew up dry stuff.
The whole feeling was generally lighter, easier and more blissful than the majority of my dry experiences, while also being generally stronger per shell and more consistent.
It appears the best time to get kava at the nakamal would be between 4pm-7pm...many places can sell out, but it seems there's always another place to go if it does.
The hacking, hawking and spitting is in full force...it actually is fairly effective at getting some of the taste out of your mouth. Next time you have a shell, go spit in a white sink afterwards and you'll see persistent brown kava-laced saliva is in your mouth forcing you to keep tasting the flavor. Beyond that, there seems to be something in fresh kava
more so than dry, that creates the need for hacking and hawking. I never felt this with dry, but many of the fresh kavas would create a phlegm/mucous build up in your throat that demands to be hawked. My bus driver/nakamal buddy told me this is normal. "In Vanuatu before kava, nobody cough. After kava, everyone coughing coughing."
Most shells are either 100 vatu or 150 vatu, which is about .90 cents to $1.33 USD. You aren't limited to these sizes though, as you can can basically hand the vendor anything and tell them how many Vatu you want to pay...and they will fill accordingly. I'd say the 100v shell would be about 6 gulps while the 150v shell is closer to 8 or 9. I found that anytime a local walked me to a nakamal they wanted to buy me a shell, I always made sure to reciprocate even though I don't think it was expected at all. They also all seemed concerned if I didn't have something to eat afterwards and would encourage me to take something of theirs to eat.
Mornings always felt fresh, even the couple times I drank suspiciously heavy kava. As far as Tudei conversations with locals (who of course don't know the science),
I was simply told things like "No, no don't drink the Tudei plant, that is no good". "Oh the yellow kava, that is no good for drink". "Tudei kava make you feel bad and no good in the morning, other kava make you feel fresh and when you wake up you feel more smart". Their point of view seems to be based simply on hating the effects of Tudeis.
If I had the option, I would drink fresh kava exclusively. Having seen and done a few of the external adventures in Vanuatu now, I can see why @nemo is okay with traveling there simply to hang around Vila drinking kava and not much else. If I were in closer proximity, I would certainly bip over on whims now and do the same thing.
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I love reading your posts, man. Thanks for adding this to the thread. I loved every word, and I hope to one day get over to that side of the planet!Just thought I'd add my general view of the fresh kava consumption in Vanuatu. I'll put it here and under my picture threads as well.
In general, I'll say kava is kava. Drinking fresh ni-van kava is unquestionably better, in every way, but it's still just kava and not a drastically different experience.
The best way I can describe it, is that every negative attribute is lessened, while all the positives are more easily attained. The taste is less bitter and easier to drink, but it does still taste like kava. There is some difficult to describe 'sparkle' to the flavor that seems unique to the fresh experience. A few months ago I had some fresh frozen Hawaiian kava, it had a distinct cucumber/vegetable juice flavor that I didn't taste so much in the fresh Vanuatu stuff. A lot of the stuff I tasted in Vanuatu had similar flavors to each other, but differed in the strength or 'depth of flavor'. There was one odd and heavy kava I had that had a strange soured finish, I think it may have been old kava, but I'm not sure.
The buzz was very easy to attain, as opposed to the trouble I have 'getting there' at home, with my dry powders. Although nausea was certainly still possible after enough shells, it was overall less nauseating, less bloating and less heavy feeling on the guts. Those things are huge obstacles for me and my personal body chemistry, when drinking dry powder, it often is bad enough to hinder me from enjoying or feeling the experience completely. It was 80-90% improved when drinking fresh kava. I'm guessing this must be due to having a higher kavalactone content while simultaneously having less root particles/sediment in the beverage. Which isn't how things work when I brew up dry stuff.
The whole feeling was generally lighter, easier and more blissful than the majority of my dry experiences.
It appears the best time to get kava at the nakamal would be between 4pm-7pm...many places can sell out, but it seems there's always another place to go if it does.
The hacking, hawking and spitting is in full force...it's actually is fairly effective at getting some of the taste out of your mouth. Next time you have a shell, go spit in a white sink afterwards and you'll see persistent brown kava-laced saliva is in your mouth forcing you to keep tasting the flavor. Beyond that, there seems to be something in fresh kava
more so than dry, that creates the need for hacking and hawking. I never felt this with dry, but many of the fresh kavas would create a phlegm/mucous build up in your throat that demands to be hawked. My bus driver/nakamal buddy told me this is normal. "In Vanuatu before kava, nobody cough. After kava, everyone coughing coughing."
Most shells are either 100 vatu or 150 vatu, which is about .90 cents to $1.33 USD. You aren't limited to these sizes though, as you can can basically hand the vendor anything and tell them how many Vatu you want to pay...and they will fill accordingly. I'd say the 100v shell would be about 6 gulps while the 150v shell is closer to 8 or 9. I found that anytime a local walked me to a nakamal they wanted to buy me a shell, I always made sure to reciprocate even though I don't think it was expected at all. They also all seemed concerned if I didn't have something to eat afterwards and would encourage me to take something of theirs to eat.
Mornings always felt fresh, even the couple times I drank suspiciously heavy kava. As far as Tudei conversations with locals (who of course don't know the science),
I was simply told things like "No, no don't drink the Tudei plant, that is no good". "Oh the yellow kava, that is no good for drink". "Tudei kava make you feel bad and no good in the morning, other kava make you feel fresh and when you wake up you feel more smart". Their point of view seems to be based simply on hating the effects of Tudeis.
If I had the option, I would drink fresh kava exclusively. Having seen and done a few of the external adventures in Vanuatu now, I can see why @nemo is okay with traveling there simply to hang around Vila drinking kava and not much else. If i were in closer proximity, I would certainly bip over on whims now and do the same thing.
I got a pound of the fresh stuff a few months back, and it transformed everything I knew about kava. It was much more like you said, drinking a vegetable, than drinking a pine and peppercorn mud-mix. Hopefully we can get @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava to start selling the fresh stuff! We're waiting, Chris...
Question about eating afterwards: What would they normally eat? How much food would they eat? Would they eat after one shell, or after multiple? Food is always a funky subject when it comes to kava.
I almost added a line about this, perhaps I'll add it. Basically, I had the same diminished appetite as I do when I drink at home. I view this as a neutral.
I kept trying to tell my village hosts to make me smaller dinners, cuz i cant eat much after i drink kava, i thought they got it, but i always ended up with a huge plate anyway.
The appetite thing seems to be person-dependent as well...ive noticed on the forum that some people can mow through food after while others cant.
If I was staying in a village, they usually cooked eggs, tomato, yams, taro, rice, vegetable type stuff...and sometimes meat. When I was near hotels I would walk to one's restaurant, order whatever kind of food and bring it back to my room. I'd only have a few bites and then grub down on it in the morning.
HeadHodge
Bula To Eternity
BULABUCK how the hell are you and wifey doing?@shakas.. Wow brother iam in awe u got to go . So happy for u . This is my dream some day u earned it brother. I would not have it any other way thanks for taking us along . It's breathtaking the beauty there I might not want to come back.So cool man
BULABUCK
ROOTLYFE.
Ahh thx for asking. Gotta say its been rough not looking good for us were trying just not working. My job is killing me and changing my body mind and soul trying to get out its very unhealthy. Lotta things need to be changed really . But this is shakas post I don't wanna hijack it with my sob story. We will survive though we are soilders we have been thru hell and back . Thx hedgy
HeadHodge
Bula To Eternity
@BULABUCK good to see ya, glad you enjoyed the thread. best of luck finding a more suitable living, your hours always sounded long and hectic when you talked about work, can't keep that up for long without burning out. perhaps it's time to move to Vanuatu, I hear it's quite affordable from an expat perspective
a s h & b u c k
a s h & b u c k
SelfBiasResistor
Persist for Resistance!
This has been a great thread, all the pictures and information is much appreciated. So much more interesting than the typical vacation slide show...
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Okay, almost a year later and I finally worked on editing a video of my trip together, I suggest watching it in 1080p, you might have to choose that from the little gear logo. I also might upload this again to Vimeo.com, to see if their stream is of higher quality. For now, you can check it on youtube:
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I think I could live there for $200,000, maybe I should fill out an application for the tourism board.
S
Summer
That was quite beautiful (minus that spider 
). Thanks for sharing.
). Thanks for sharing.