I Love Kava Friday Your grail cultivar?

[kastom_lif]

Anybody have particular kavas that you'd love to try? Maybe one you had before that's not available any more, or one that you've heard good stuff about? For me the short list has gotta be

1. melomelo
2. kelai
3. Kava from Tofua
4. the mythical ʻawa kau laʻau o Puna

 

[Bula Kava House]

Anybody have particular kavas that you'd love to try? Maybe one you had before that's not available any more, or one that you've heard good stuff about? For me the short list has gotta be

1. melomelo
2. kelai
3. Kava from Tofua
4. the mythical ʻawa kau laʻau o Puna

I'm working on getting one of these as the next Private Reserve....

 

[gork]

Papa Kea, Poni Ono, Fuu, Melo Melo, BKH' Eua

 

[kastom_lif]

I'm working on getting one of these as the next Private Reserve....

Oh you tease! I love it.

Considering one is purely mythological, and Ambae has been sort of getting volcano'ed lately... I'm guessing you've been going to Epi or Tofua? Nice!

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

In order: melomelo, rahmedel, fuu

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

• Avini Ute
• 'Awa Mokihana
• Rong Rong Wul
• Everything from Tanna
• Every islands top cultivars

 

[kastom_lif]

In order: melomelo, rahmedel, fuu

Fu'u was the BOMB. Can't remember if i got it from BKH or Rex back in the day, but... daaaannng. As a virgin to Pouni Ono (at least until tomorrow or Monday), fu'u was my peak Tongan experience.

Kava Tanna is excellent too. I mourn the loss of Vanuatu Kava Store. The last of my marang and ahouia ran out only a few months ago. Couldn't help myself.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I've loved every Tongan root I've tried. Best experience so far was Tongan family reserved from pauliepaul at thekavaroots but a very close second is a 1:1 blend of squanch with kula from bkh, very similar feeling of strength plus heady.

 

[kastom_lif]

Squanch is cheating

 

[verticity]

For drinking:
Rahmedel
Uncommon Vanuatu varieties such as Pia (Tanna)
Uncommon Samoan varieties like Ava Mumu, Talo and Sa
Pouni Ono

... and for testing purposes:
"Oahu2xx"
Any true wichmannii

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

In terms of chemotypes, I'd love to try something like:
415xxx
143xxx

 

[ThePiper]

Where can we find such uncommon varieties stateside?

 

[Palmetto]

Most of my holy grail cultivars have been mentioned:
avini ute
rahmedel
melo melo
kelai
One I haven't seen mentioned is malamala

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Where can we find such uncommon varieties stateside?

You typically can't, gotta go island hopping for it.

There's a wholesaler that had some Tanna - Pia recently though, but it was old stock from years ago and too expensive, definitely wouldn't be worth it. Another option is finding your local Pacific Islander community (depends on where you live) and asking them about the kava their family members send them.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

But beyond these rare cultivars, I think there's a good reason why Borogu is so popular in Vanuatu. It is a very fine daily cultivar.
I also love the kava we used to get from Tonga (the Mighty Tongan that I shared with quite a few people here). Such a shame the vendor started playing weird tricks.
I also love Chris' Mahakea and Mo'i. Two of the finest, most interesting and effective kavas I know.

Mahakea always ends up being stronger than I expect, so I make a mental note to remember next time, but it still happens every time. It's like I subconsciously want that to happen.

 

[KavaCat]

I don't know if I've had enough kava varieties to have a number of great ones yet, but there was a melomelo I used to get that's now unavailable. I never had the experience from BHK melomelo that I had from the one in question, sadly. I hope one day to find another good melomelo. Close second is Mahakea, but I just opened up the Tongan reserve from kavafied, and I may have a new favorite. For now. Needs a few more runs, but it's extremely promising.

 

[kavamehameha]

I also love the kava we used to get from Tonga (the Mighty Tongan that I shared with quite a few people here). Such a shame the vendor started playing weird tricks.

A shame indeed. The Mighty Tongan was exquisite. It was my daily kava for several weeks.

To answer @kastom_lif 's question: The Mighty Tongan would be on my list. And Qila Leka (Cheerful Fijian from @Henry , not available at the moment - that was a heady beast!). And from the ones I never tried before, Rahmedel.

 

[avahZ]

Chemotype 34.....

 

[nabanga]

They grow kava on Tofua? I know the Tongan fisheries officer that patrols Tofua waters and drops off there for overnight spearfishing from time to time. If the volcanic soils are similar to south Tanna or south Ambrym it should be a show-stopper..

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Tapatalk

 

[kastom_lif]

They grow kava on Tofua? I know the Tongan fisheries officer that patrols Tofua waters and drops off there for overnight spearfishing from time to time. If the volcanic soils are similar to south Tanna or south Ambrym it should be a show-stopper..

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Tapatalk

Heck yes, they grow kava on Tofua. Check it out on Google Earth. The windward side has terraced gardens going all the way up to the rim. There's a second smaller region of gardens at about the 8 o'clock position.