Kavaforums

"Our beginnings:
Kavaforums.com
Started: 11/18/2012

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the kavasseur's blog at blogspot. We were a community that banded together around his yuku platform forum. At the time there was literally nothing even close to a review about kava circulating anywhere on the internet so we hung on his every word. Every review he would post would cause a flurry of activity of members on the message board. I myself remained a lurker for a good year at least. I joined and lurked further until I jumped in and started to converse with the members there. Everyone was so helpful and insightful. There were all sorts of projects going on and every new discovery made by a member was celebrated. A year or so on things began to quiet down since the kavasseur moved to Ghana. Fewer reviews were posted and it felt as if the community as a whole was losing steam. About this time (November of 2012) is when I purchased the domain name for kavaforums. I and several members pitched the idea of a new forum that had better control over features (and maybe even a ""like"" function!). It was met with some enthusiasm, but most were happy with the platform as it was, so kavaforums.com sat unused for a number of months in the interim. There were many days where we wouldn't see a single post being shared which caused me and I'm sure a number others to begin to feel the tension. I knew something had to be done to keep the kava community as populated and as colorful as it was in the old days. Hence the first green incarnation of kavaforums. We still owe our communities beginnings to the efforts of Doug LaRose (aka the kavasseur)."

Our goal is to educate current, and prospective kava consumers about all things kava, to provide honest and thorough reviews of vendors and their products, and to provide a sense of community for those that chose to consume our beloved root. We offer no advertising for vendors. We choose to advertise on the front page for vendors we feel are 100% devoted to providing quality kava.

Lurk, learn, post and share. Most importantly, be yourself! We are a community of like-minded people in regards to striving for a stress free and relaxed lifestyle, while still continuing to be responsible, productive, and helpful members of our local communities, and online here .

Approved Vendor

This is a term you may see either here or in a logo on the vendor's website.

What it means:

• Approved vendor means this vendor has been vetted by the admin team at kavaforums. Vetted, by our definition, means we have made contact with the vendor, advised them of our policies, and they have agreed to abide by them. It also means that we have done our very best to ensure the vendor is legitimate in regards to the sale of quality kava.
• They respect kava, they respect the industry, and are working to better serve the customer base with a focus on quality.
• The vendor has shown a dedication to delivering kava products to customers and integrity in being sure to follow through even when things may not go as planned.
• The vendor can be contacted in an accessible way.
• The vendor actively wants to be known as an Approved Vendor through kavaforums. There are many kava vendors out there, and just because they may not have sought us out for our logo doesn't necessarily mean they don't embody all of the characteristics of a fully approved excellent kava vendor.
• The vendor's kava has been reviewed on kavaforums or has been sampled by a kavaforums member with positive remarks.
• Any non-noble kavas will be clearly labeled as such.
• The vendor is not actively working against scientific discoveries in relation to the quality and safety standards of kava.

What it does not mean:

• That everything will be perfect. Kava is a natural product and as such has natural variations in concentrations of the special chemicals called kavalactones.
• That you won't have trouble. Packages get lost, computer system issues happen, life happens.
• That the kava you've selected at the vendor will be the best kava for you. Kavas resonate with different individuals differently. What is someone's favorite kava may be another's most avoided.
• That your order from the vendor will ship instantly. Some of these vendors are a small operation and have to physically take their orders to the local post office.
• That anyone without the logo carries inferior kava.