New Member - Vendor | Artofkava.com

[Artofkava]

Hey yall! My name is Zac Holzapfel. I connected with Kapmkrunk over on reddit and was directed here to intro myself and what we're doing. I own a tea company called Yum Cha @ drinkteaa.com. I partnered with a friend of mine from Fiji who you may or may not know of, Isake Kantonibau. He's a pro 7s rugby player out there. We're starting a new brand called Art of Kava @ artofkava.com. We both have very high quality standards and look at this product like something between ayurvedic tea (good for you stuff) and wine (tasting notes, effect, terroir, etc). We sampled a bunch and picked two to start.

I'd love it if you would go over to the site and send me some feedback on the usability etc. I also have the kava up at free shipping anywhere in the USA.

If you're interested in wholesale for a bar/cafe etc let me know. We're still working out that pricing/process but can either deliver from Jacksonville Florida or direct out of Nadi to keep costs a bit lower.

Thanks!

 

[The Kap'n]

Hey yall! My name is Zac Holzapfel. I connected with Kapmkrunk over on reddit and was directed here to intro myself and what we're doing. I own a tea company called Yum Cha @ drinkteaa.com. I partnered with a friend of mine from Fiji who you may or may not know of, Isake Kantonibau. He's a pro 7s rugby player out there. We're starting a new brand called Art of Kava @ artofkava.com. We both have very high quality standards and look at this product like something between ayurvedic tea (good for you stuff) and wine (tasting notes, effect, terroir, etc). We sampled a bunch and picked two to start.

I'd love it if you would go over to the site and send me some feedback on the usability etc. I also have the kava up at free shipping anywhere in the USA.

If you're interested in wholesale for a bar/cafe etc let me know. We're still working out that pricing/process but can either deliver from Jacksonville Florida or direct out of Nadi to keep costs a bit lower.

Thanks!

When viewing a vendors website it generally will stick out like a sore thumb if they are unknowledgeable about the product they're selling. I get NO such vibes from your site. The amount of detail you've gone into is what we love to see. Kudos for the kava tasting notes, and "about the Farmer" sections. That's beautiful. Another small but important detail is the way you've decided to display your product with pictures. It's unique.

Welcome aboard! If you were looking for a bunch of quality minded kava drinkers, you found us!

 

[Artofkava]

When viewing a vendors website it generally will stick out like a sore thumb if they are unknowledgeable about the product they're selling. I get NO such vibes from your site. The amount of detail you've gone into is what we love to see. Kudos for the kava tasting notes, and "about the Farmer" sections. That's beautiful. Another small but important detail is the way you've decided to display your product with pictures. It's unique.

Welcome aboard! If you were looking for a bunch of quality minded kava drinkers, you found us!

Ah thank you so much for the kind words! Yah we want our farmers to be front and center. The culture there is a bit different from what I know through tea, but it would be so cool if we can build them up to have something like Kantonibau Estate Kava. That's awesome about the pic as well, thank you! I've been working with taking pics of Matcha, which we're going to change fairly soon to this style. It ends up being a green pile haha. That was the kava pressed into a bone china tea cup and turned onto a white sheet giving it that pressed clean look with the dimple.

 

[Groggy]

Hey yall! My name is Zac Holzapfel. I connected with Kapmkrunk over on reddit and was directed here to intro myself and what we're doing. I own a tea company called Yum Cha @ drinkteaa.com. I partnered with a friend of mine from Fiji who you may or may not know of, Isake Kantonibau. He's a pro 7s rugby player out there. We're starting a new brand called Art of Kava @ artofkava.com. We both have very high quality standards and look at this product like something between ayurvedic tea (good for you stuff) and wine (tasting notes, effect, terroir, etc). We sampled a bunch and picked two to start.

I'd love it if you would go over to the site and send me some feedback on the usability etc. I also have the kava up at free shipping anywhere in the USA.

If you're interested in wholesale for a bar/cafe etc let me know. We're still working out that pricing/process but can either deliver from Jacksonville Florida or direct out of Nadi to keep costs a bit lower.

Thanks!

I like the website, it would be nice to have a 1/2 pound option for those of us that would prefer a little more to try it out.

I edited your post, to link directly to your site.

 

[Artofkava]

I like the website, it would be nice to have a 1/2 pound option for those of us that would prefer a little more to try it out.

I edited your post, to link directly to your site.

Ok great to know! I'll add that option. We kind of went in the weeds with options with tea on our other site so this is an experiment to make it more clean. Thanks for the edit!

 

[Artofkava]

I like the website, it would be nice to have a 1/2 pound option for those of us that would prefer a little more to try it out.

I edited your post, to link directly to your site.

8 oz option added, thanks again.

 

[Groggy]

8 oz option added, thanks again.

Thanks, now I can try a proper amount of each.

 

[krunkgod]

$80 a pound? I'm sorry but thats ridiculous. Understandable that you guys are just starting out, but seems a bit pricey.

 

[The Kap'n]

$80 a pound? I'm sorry but thats ridiculous. Understandable that you guys are just starting out, but seems a bit pricey.

$80 while steep isn't too far outside the normal range of prices we're seeing. Also, it seems he's connected directly to the farmers instead of a importing from a large scale operation. Boutique is always going to be more expensive. The Kava Roots are an example of this.

I should also say that by buying by the kilo you end up at $70.30/lb

 

[Artofkava]

$80 a pound? I'm sorry but thats ridiculous. Understandable that you guys are just starting out, but seems a bit pricey.

Hey! I completely understand what you're saying and I'd love to hear more! We had a couple options to start with. Offer free shipping sitewide and absorb fluctuating/increasing shipping rate as well as other costs like merchant fees (like normal). This way we're able to give you the price you pay, include shipping and if it goes below what we would've charged anyway, that ends up being a discount. Or we can do it the way we do it for drinkteaa.com which is just charge shipping rates and lower the cost a bit. I'm good to do either. I was thinking that it would make it cheaper in the long run for our customers. What do you think?

 

[Artofkava]

$80 while steep isn't too far outside the normal range of prices we're seeing. Also, it seems he's connected directly to the farmers instead of a importing from a large scale operation. Boutique is always going to be more expensive. The Kava Roots are an example of this.

I should also say that by buying by the kilo you end up at $70.30/lb

exactly what our idea is. I'm 100% in the interest of giving our customers whatever is the most fair while allowing our company to grow. What's good for us should also be good for you!

 

[krunkgod]

Hey! I completely understand what you're saying and I'd love to hear more! We had a couple options to start with. Offer free shipping sitewide and absorb fluctuating/increasing shipping rate as well as other costs like merchant fees (like normal). This way we're able to give you the price you pay, include shipping and if it goes below what we would've charged anyway, that ends up being a discount. Or we can do it the way we do it for drinkteaa.com which is just charge shipping rates and lower the cost a bit. I'm good to do either. I was thinking that it would make it cheaper in the long run for our customers. What do you think?

Gotcha, that sounds a bit better when laid out like that. Didn't mean to jump down your throat about it, I just got a little dizzy not realizing you guys had a free shipping tier. Thought at first it was $80 + shipping charges. I'll definitely be trying some of that koro waka soon!

 

[Artofkava]

Gotcha, that sounds a bit better when laid out like that. Didn't mean to jump down your throat about it, I just got a little dizzy not realizing you guys had a free shipping tier. Thought at first it was $80 + shipping charges. I'll definitely be trying some of that koro waka soon!

It's not problem at all. I expected worse haha! Seriously tho, I appreciate the feedback either way. Conveying that full message in a way that our customers can easily connect the dots on their own is difficult. So that just says we're not quite there yet. Thanks a ton for trying it out!

 

[ThatDankK]

For another vendor I'm looking into, their KG price for one of their top shelf cultivars is 159.55 shipping/tax included, so in my personal opinion that's a pretty reasonable price option.

 

[ThatDankK]

A suggestion, publish the certificate of analysis with each of your options and put the chemotype in the general description. Potential customers like to see those things and are more likely to try some if they see those. Other than that, I like how the site is layed out, it feels natural with a sensible flow

 

[ThePiper]

Going to pass right now because of the price, but will be following to see how things go.

 

[Artofkava]

Going to pass right now because of the price, but will be following to see how things go.

I understand completely! I'll make adjustments as we go, maybe in a few days even. Finding the sweet spot of value for our customers and growth for us is usually difficult. Yall have no idea how refreshing it is to come into this forum from the tea industry. I have to work very hard to get the same feedback about our tea.

 

[ThatDankK]

I understand completely! I'll make adjustments as we go, maybe in a few days even. Finding the sweet spot of value for our customers and growth for us is usually difficult. Yall have no idea how refreshing it is to come into this forum from the tea industry. I have to work very hard to get the same feedback about our tea.

I have another suggestion for you which might incline people like @ThePiper To buy your better priced kg option. Do a sample pack of 2-4oz of each cultivar and set the price point a bit lower than your other options so people who are on a budget can see if they like one of your products without having to buy a large quantity

 

[Groggy]

I received my order today safe and sound, I will try a little later and post my preliminary impressions.

 

[Groggy]

Both kavas are superior, they are both oily on prep, dark but not overly peppery. I thought I should type this before I continue. It's going to take me a while to decipher the Koro, I like it though, it leans heavy.

The Kadavu is outstanding and it only took a sip for me to realize it's very potent.