Kadavu odd smell?

[John Bytell]

I had been waiting for kavatime to get some more kadavu. I loved this stuff when they had it months ago. The new batch has a very odd smell.
I noticed Root of Happiness had some availible too so I got some for comparison. It also had a very odd smell ...but different...a very chemical smell.
Anyone else notice this? Only thing I can figure is it was near something that it absorbed the smell from...?

 

[Kava Time]

Are you referring to the sweet licorice grassy type smell coming from our kadavu? Or its some other type of smell?

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Is it different from the strong pungent zingy piney peppery smell you'd smell from many Vanuatu kavas? Are you familiar with that scent?
I've had a few odd smelling kavas over the years, ranging from the baked scent(scorched flour/powdery/malty), to aerial adulteration scent (raisin/dried tobacco) to smokey or grassy/flowery and a couple that smelled like it absorbed the aromas of many herbs that it may have been stored with. I've consumed them all, but some put me off more than others because I don't detect 'kava-i-ness' in them.

I'd bet the scent you're smelling is probably just inherent to that particular kava, pure good kavas also have a variety of scents.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Are you referring to the sweet licorice grassy type smell coming from our kadavu? Or its some other type of smell?

Wow, that's exactly it! I noticed at once a very distinctive smell to kadavu as soon as I opened the package, how could I not? Couldn't find the words to describe it, but yeah, sweet licorice grassy, but now that I think of it, deep rich fresh sweet licorice grassy is more like it. I don't think I've ever smelled any kava quite like it.

Love the stuff, too, btw. Can't drink it every day as it is quite strong, sombre, almost, and I'm more of a Taveuni's Secret kind of guy. Of course, that's what I thought until the Savusavu knocked me for a loop and I realized the Kadavu is more sort of in between. For that matter, there's nothing lightweight about Taveuni's Secret but I seem to have no problem drinking it outside on a sunny day, wheras Kadavu and Savusavu are really more night time kavas for me. I prepped my wife a litre of Savusavu on Monday this week and she drank it all and was blown away, had an incredibly good sleep.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Is it different from the strong pungent zingy piney peppery smell you'd smell from many Vanuatu kavas? Are you familiar with that scent?
I've had a few odd smelling kavas over the years, ranging from the baked scent(scorched flour/powdery/malty), to aerial adulteration scent (raisin/dried tobacco) to smokey or grassy/flowery and a couple that smelled like it absorbed the aromas of many herbs that it may have been stored with. I've consumed them all, but some put me off more than others because I don't detect 'kava-i-ness' in them.

I'd bet the scent you're smelling is probably just inherent to that particular kava, pure good kavas also have a variety of scents.

One thing I've found works great with odd smelling kavas, if they bother you [or with ones that smell fine but you want to lighten the effects], is just blend with Fijian lawena, any Fijian lawena, Squanch, Wakacon, Cactus, Best Fijian, they all work (although I think the Taveuni's Lawena from Kava Time should be reserved just for drinking on its own). I did this last night with the Kava Kauai Vanuatu, which I believe you recently described as joyless on its own (I disagree but you have enough of a point I can see why you would say that) . 1:1 with lawena and it became quite joyful for me, almost nambawanish, and the flavour was really nice, too, but still very thick and rich and strong full-bodied for a blonde grog.

Sorry, to be clear, there is nothing wrong with the way Kava Kauai's Vanuatu grind smells, in fact, it smells really nice and makes a beautiful blonde grog. I just blended it with lawena because it is a heavy kava and I wanted to lighten the effects. Repeat: the Kava Kauai Vanuatu smells just great. Wanted to be clear here and re-reading my original post it could have been misinterpreted.

 

[Kava Time]

kava doesn't really absorb smell from other herbs. I suspect that the kadavu got that sweet licorice smell because it has been partially air dried. This practice is pretty common in Kadavu where you just leave the kava spread on tin under a shed or inside the home to air dry if the weather isn't favorable. As supposed to practices in Taveuni and Savusavu where farmers use a fire powered dryer to dry the kava when it rains.
I feel that air drying tends to preserve more kavalactones which is why kadavu kavas are usually stronger than other regions in comparison to fire dried kava. If you have tried the kadavu you will also notice that it doesn't have any smokey taste to it unlike our Savusavu and current batch of Taveuni.

Air drying kava is similar to drying clothes in shelter when it rains. Its not possible to do this if you don't spread the kava thoroughly. If it is kept heaped up for even a couple of days by the farmer waiting for the sun to come up again then it will develop the chemical/soapy type smell. it happens very easily if the kava is not fully dried and left in bags for a day. Kava also develops mildew very easily during wet season which can be washed but it does impart a funky smell to the kava.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

kava doesn't really absorb smell from other herbs. I suspect that the kadavu got that sweet licorice smell because it has been partially air dried. This practice is pretty common in Kadavu where you just leave the kava spread on tin under a shed or inside the home to air dry if the weather isn't favorable. As supposed to practices in Taveuni and Savusavu where farmers use a fire powered dryer to dry the kava when it rains.
I feel that air drying tends to preserve more kavalactones which is why kadavu kavas are usually stronger than other regions in comparison to fire dried kava. If you have tried the kadavu you will also notice that it doesn't have any smokey taste to it unlike our Savusavu and current batch of Taveuni.

Air drying kava is similar to drying clothes in shelter when it rains. Its not possible to do this if you don't spread the kava thoroughly. If it is kept heaped up for even a couple of days by the farmer waiting for the sun to come up again then it will develop the chemical/soapy type smell. it happens very easily if the kava is not fully dried and left in bags for a day. Kava also develops mildew very easily during wet season which can be washed but it does impart a funky smell to the kava.

Does that soapy taste/smell affect the effects, in your experience? Or is it just an aesthetic thing? I have had soapy kava that tasted odd but was still plenty strong. I guess the word is drink it quick?

 

[John Bytell]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I resmelled the kavatime kadavu tonight and whatever was there isnt there anymore. It's hard to place the smell... It wasnt like anything I've smelled in 3 yrs of drinking kava, but what you guys are saying makes sense. The Root of Happiness one has a paint smell. I guess I could try blending it with something else ....

 

[Kava Time]

Does that soapy taste/smell affect the effects, in your experience? Or is it just an aesthetic thing? I have had soapy kava that tasted odd but was still plenty strong. I guess the word is drink it quick?

You don't get the soapy taste if the kava has been cleaned properly but i must say that some kavas do have this medicinal type of taste to it which can be mistaken for soapy taste easily. Soapy taste comes from mildewed kava. The taste and smell are aesthetic things and don't play a role in what effects the kava would have or its potency. However, as a kava connoisseur you would want the taste and smell of the kava to be pleasant as well to give an overall good experience especially if you are paying a premium price for it. Like fine wine, the alcohol content will be almost the same but its pleasant characteristics is what makes you buy the more premium ones.

That being said, if you do get stuck with funky smelling kavas that don't go well with you, dont waste it, chug it down if need be but just don't buy it again..

 

[John Bytell]

You don't get the soapy taste if the kava has been cleaned properly but i must say that some kavas do have this medicinal type of taste to it which can be mistaken for soapy taste easily. Soapy taste comes from mildewed kava. The taste and smell are aesthetic things and don't play a role in what effects the kava would have or its potency. However, as a kava connoisseur you would want the taste and smell of the kava to be pleasant as well to give an overall good experience especially if you are paying a premium price for it. Like fine wine, the alcohol content will be almost the same but its pleasant characteristics is what makes you buy the more premium ones.

That being said, if you do get stuck with funky smelling kavas that don't go well with you, dont waste it, chug it down if need be but just don't buy it again..

This batch wasnt as strong to me as the last one from a different farm....that one was one of the best kavas Ive ever had!

 

[Kava Time]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I resmelled the kavatime kadavu tonight and whatever was there isnt there anymore. It's hard to place the smell... It wasnt like anything I've smelled in 3 yrs of drinking kava, but what you guys are saying makes sense. The Root of Happiness one has a paint smell. I guess I could try blending it with something else ....

This makes me wonder if its something to do the vacuum sealing process somehow intensifying the scent when its opened for the first time

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

I just stuck my face in my jar of kadavu to be sure. Smells great, not as strong as when I opened the bag and crushed the hard lumps, but not far off, neither. Smells nice, grassy licorice but also spicy grassy licorice, with the teeniest tiny hint of allspice. Not cinammon, definitely not. But allspice or mace, but very tiny undertone. Very pleasant.

 

[Kava Time]

The first time I ever had that soapy/chemical/pain-like smelling and tasting kava was a few years ago on a small island in Polynesia where people import kava from a different island. One batch of the kava sold by a local vendor had that strong chemical-type smell. I asked him about it and he said it might have been due to him using a "wrong container." A few years later I got another kava with the same type of smell and taste from another source and then another one from another source etc etc. As I said, some of those kavas were from Tonga, some were from Fiji, some from Vanuatu, so this really is a processing issue, not a matter of cultivar or soil. It's a very specific scent and Kava Time is right: it does indeed seem to result from drying kava during a rainy period/excessive moisture in the initial post-harvest period. It's not moulded yet (and indeed, I tested two batches of kava that smelled this way and they both had acceptable levels of mould and yeast) - moulded kava smells and tastes much worse, but it is nevertheless a rather unpleasant taste/smell, at least in my opinion. At the same time, based on my experience, it does not seem to correspond with any decrease in potency or any adverse effects.

Agreed. But its really a smell, not so much as a taste imo. You get that smell when you taste the kava but it is actually a smell. The point where you taste it in the kava is when you know that it has high levels of mold and yeast (hasnt been washed, just dried and processed). It just tastes awfully soapy aside from the muddy taste and makes you want to gag.

 

[Kava Time]

As an experiment if you want to know what this funky type chemical smell is, take 2 tbsp kava powder and put it in a ziplock bag. Add a few drops of water in it and keep it ziplocked for 2 days. Then open the bag and take a whiff. Thats the extreme version of the smell. You could taste it also. Then use the same kava powder put it back in the sun for a day let it sun out. Then smell and drink that kava. Thats the mild version. Most people find it difficult to detect the mild version