Vanuatu official endorses Tudei, proposes discarding Kava Act.

[kastom_lif]

The "usual suspects" already have a tudei supply chain keeping kr@ bars well stocked with non-noble kava.

As kava drinkers and vendors, maybe the best we can do is to continue to seek quality kava and build trust directly with growers. Bypass any middlemen who adulterate their kava without labeling it honestly.

If Colmar and Olivier are feeling the heat from the "noble youth", well fellas, it's not cause the Kava Act is stopping your trade. It's because grassroots farmers and dedicated overseas vendors have made connections that bypass the middlemen. And, gosh, N@H kava is now priced through the roof, so maybe they are feeling some competition.

Y'all wanna compete? Stop selling shit kava. Pay your growers fairly. Don't let your kava grow mold. Pretty much common sense things.

EDIT: Previously, I had unfairly named one other kava middleman. I stand corrected.

 

[Alia]

I just received word that "the meeting went well, no amendment" from Michael Louze, the noble advocate present. We should have full news tomorrow, many thanks to all for your support here and to all who participated behind the scenes.

Good news I hope since if it had passed it would kick all our hard work with Codex alimentaius right down the road.

 

[The Kap'n]

Minister says kava is a sensitive issue, tells reporters to leave kava meeting

http://dailypost.vu/news/minister-s...cle_ca47bf29-cd1b-5806-bcfc-f5a6e0d91a36.html

“This is not a good sign unless they have something that they don’t want to public to know about. After all, kava is almost everybody’s business”.

 

[verticity]

Minister says kava is a sensitive issue, tells reporters to leave kava meeting

http://dailypost.vu/news/minister-s...cle_ca47bf29-cd1b-5806-bcfc-f5a6e0d91a36.html

Vanuatu actually has a relatively good reputation for press freedom (comparable score from Freedom House to the US)

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/vanuatu

So this doesn't sound quite kosher. (Of course politicians in the US have been known to hold closed door meetings with business leaders on sensitive topics. If the only reason is to avoid press scrutiny, I'm not OK with that my own country either.. ) But this is an important topic that really deserves a public hearing.

Quote, that speaks for itself:

"The minister announced the ban to the reporters after major kava businessman, Peter Colmar indicated that the media was not allowed to cover the meeting, in line with an email from the Acting Director General of Agriculture."
​

 

[The Kap'n]

Vanuatu actually has a relatively good reputation for press freedom (comparable score from Freedom House to the US)

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/vanuatu

So this doesn't sound normal for there.

Quote, that speaks for itself:

"The minister announced the ban to the reporters after major kava businessman, Peter Colmar indicated that the media was not allowed to cover the meeting, in line with an email from the Acting Director General of Agriculture."
​

Maybe a little "lets suppress reality to push this narrative". It seems as though he was a tad upset that the Vanuatu post released that article yesterday with Dr. Schmidt being interviewed.

 

[kastom_lif]

 

[ThePiper]

There's probably not enough noble to go around these days. Of everything is clearly labeled and unmixed then I would feel ok about it. But of course it won't be that simple.

 

[kasa_balavu]

Some serious FUD there.

 

[kasa_balavu]

Of everything is clearly labeled and unmixed then I would feel ok about it. But of course it won't be that simple.

They will simply refuse to, as evidenced by the fact that that's what they've been doing for years. Their entire argument is that Vanuatu could be making good money exporting tudei. But go to all their websites... they all loudly proclaim that their kava is noble. Only a single vendor started labeling a non-noble product by its cultivar name a few months ago.

Tonnes of tudei kava imported into the US annually over the past decade and it all disappears into kava bars, every one of which loudly proclaims on their website and social media accounts that they serve noble kava.

There is no demand for tudei among consumers, but significant demand from kava bars that can adulterate their kava with it and sell it to an unwitting public.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

They will simply refuse to, as evidenced by the fact that that's what they've been doing for years. Their entire argument is that Vanuatu could be making good money exporting tudei. But go to all their websites... they all loudly proclaim that their kava is noble. Only a single vendor started labeling a non-noble product by its cultivar name a few months ago.

Tonnes of tudei kava imported into the US annually over the past decade and it all disappears into kava bars, every one of which loudly proclaims on their website and social media accounts that they serve noble kava.

There is no demand for tudei among consumers, but significant demand from kava bars that can adulterate their kava with it and sell it to an unwitting public.

and which doesn't matter because the typical customer at a kava bar is a newb or tourist or hipster, orders a shell, drinks half and leaves, no harm no foul. $5 plus tip.

 

[gork]

Questions:
Can't they get mama Isa and Dady Noble to make little kid plants? I simply don't know if that's been tried.
As far as feeling gross and sick Just personally just as many Noble Kava's (seem to) do that to me as the few times I've had Isa(that I know of anyway) Their's a post around here from last year when I was getting back into it. I'd gotten it from a co-op, sufficed to saya few people suspected it was a blend of Isa noble.

So is the worry people might get sick or hurt from Isa?
Or just as reasobly if it's sacred and (usually) left for spiritual rituals that's legit to I simply don't know as I don't have much interest in the Isa/Noble drama.. ^_^

On one hand I'm thinking: Well maybie why not give Isa and PNG Kava's a second chance Mostly because: Why not? UNLESS
It would simply be a bad idea. And I totally respect that.
I just hate to see a drama flare up because of trying resolve a genuine issue Kava farms getting low on this most excelent. And very nice awesome treat and KFA way to set just awesome tone to start and end the day.

I do agree: hey if the stuff will be a blend, or the planet it self a cross bred? just say so! that's it! Simply say: hey kava's to be fun, and if you get sick or feel off STOP

These are just ideas
They may simply not work
And I totally respect that!

 

[gork]

and which doesn't matter because the typical customer at a kava bar is a newb or tourist or hipster, orders a shell, drinks half and leaves, no harm no foul. $5 plus tip.

Krunkie you have a wonderful nack for simplicity and straitforwardness that I really like.

lets just say a few things:
KavaForum people are Realy Into the Stuff.
Someone topping by a exotic tea house or something and wants to try Kava may not be, it just really really cool and weird so they want to try it (that's me)
That's where I started with it as well. SantaFe used to have this great adventure themed tea house. Basically one of the owners sold Kava as 'Buddha's bliss'. Just say while it was very pleasent my GF of the time needed to drive us home. Her laughing hard at some of my observations and that I finally unwound after a long week.
It was probably a blend that included some kind of Isa as I had a realy nice warm glow for several days afterwords,- Then I foolishy said: OMG this stuff rocks, and found out about these forums and the rest is history.

I don't know that many people would do that, they may simply start and stop at: Wow do I feel chill and just nice. And that might be totally legit.
It seems like it'd be great to have more variety of Kavas to try and a just darn nice cheep go to. I simply don't know if Isa's can or should fill that void.
I do also say the drama around a nice drink with strong cultural heritigate, spiritual ties to a wonderfully exotic (in a good way!!!) to me peoples is just..odd to me.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

"No worries about a crappy product because few try it twice" - is that what you're saying? I hope this isn't the attitude kava bar owners take!

What incentives do they have? They seem to do good business or the same business regardless of the quality, and quality is something very few of their customers would be able to ascertain, anyway.

Just at a rough estimate, guess how many people in the US have drunk kava, even if just one shell, in the past twelve months right on up to the 4L a day daywalkers. Now estimate what percentage of that number actually knows anything about kava, enjoys it, and can tell the difference between good kava and bad kava or would even care. (or more specifically, is capable of reasonably and accurately estimating what the true monetary worth of any given kava is based on quality?) 5%? Maybe? And I kind of suspect I am being generous there. Or perhaps there is a vast and silent population of people drinking kava and appreciating it and never sharing the experience, either by shelling with others or talking about it. Vendors would know, I guess, particularly based on steady and repeat customers. I could be way off.

But I suspect that the number of consumers who are casual and unsophisticated and for whom real measures of quality are unimportant, and their percentage of the market is large enough, that it can skew the market and these kinds of issues.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

What incentives do they have? They seem to do good business or the same business regardless of the quality, and quality is something very few of their customers would be able to ascertain, anyway.

I've thought the same thing. Kava bars aren't in the business of attracting the connoisseurs. There wouldn't be enough of them in localized areas since the vast majority of people have never heard of kava. They don't really have an incentive to waste money on an exotic variety of high end kava. It's a much different situation than a nakamal in Vanuatu where the quality, taste and effects are so much better. The nakamals actually have to compete for business and provide the varieties and quality of drinks their customers expect.

 

[kastom_lif]

US nakamals have to make the same sort of decision that beer bars make: do you sell cheap Budweiser/Coors/Miller, or do you position yourself as a microbrew and import specialist?

The demographic areas where microbrews are popular seem to overlap with the places where kava bars survive. Hipsters gonna hip, I guess.

Would be nice to offer a noble, alcohol-free alternative for all those Bud Lite drinkers living in flyover country.