I fully agree and understand that most of what I am buying is mixed. The name stays the same and they get to mix anything and everything into the bag and I am none the wiser. Most of the time I could care less as long as they mix me up something good
. However, we have individuals who rant that what is in my occasional purchase of golden bags is not what I think it is and we have other vendors charging high prices for rare cultivars. On the other side, I would think vendors would sometimes like to check to see that what they are being sold is true. Seems like a logical question to me to ask if the next level of kava testing is feasible and affordable. I am also of the opinion that labeling should indicate that what is in the bag. If it is a mix then tell me it is a mix, preferably with the strains but I understand that this might not be feasible with a lot of what we get from Fiji. Then again if the vendors have good working relationships with these farms it doesn't sound that far fetched.
Comment on Hawaiian cultivars (might relate to other growing region cultivars) - There is, at least, one scientific study that demonstrates ("Noble") 'awa extremely similar in DNA profile. Rather than trying to explain just look up Economic Botany 53: 407-418. Extremely small genetic variation for obvious reasons. Plenty morphology.
While scientific verification may not be possible to identify them at the individual cultivar level, it would be good if vendors would at least list the blend being used. There would be less confusion when new batches come out and are exceptionally strong or weak. It would also be helpful to people trying to use kava medicinally because they need predictable effects (and side effects). I can see some vendors opposing this because they want to have proprietary blends but they don't necessarily have to tell us what percentage of each variety is used. Kava Time actually lists his farmers cultivars for each of his offerings, though.I fully agree and understand that most of what I am buying is mixed. The name stays the same and they get to mix anything and everything into the bag and I am none the wiser. Most of the time I could care less as long as they mix me up something good
The problem is that usually they don't themselves know for certain. My experience doesn't extend beyond Fiji, but sadly over here even the farmers don't know what they're growing. They've never needed to know. Their fathers didn't need to know. Their grandfathers didn't need to know. The market doesn't care.
That does match what KK said they were doing. But it also mentions using 96 well microtiter plates, which I think would mean you could do 96 different samples at a time for that price? That's still about USD 25 per sample, but could be doable for a large company like Con Aloe (Kava King's supplier) with lots of different products to test.I don't know if this is the correct test, but this Canadian lab appears to charge USD$2500.
Do you feel like this is slowly changing or is there still no real market forces pushing this?The problem is that usually they don't themselves know for certain. My experience doesn't extend beyond Fiji, but sadly over here even the farmers don't know what they're growing. They've never needed to know. Their fathers didn't need to know. Their grandfathers didn't need to know. The market doesn't care.
No farmer I talked to on my recent visit correctly identified every cultivar they had. They called the dark ones Loa (there are a few dark cultivars), the light ones Vula (there are 6 light cultivars), and Damu and the two Matakaro's were often mis-identified.
I don't know if this is the correct test, but this Canadian lab appears to charge USD$2500.
Thanks! It would appear that, while possible, it is still pretty cost prohibitive for just getting a ballpark idea of what variety the kava is and would probably not work well for a pre-ground mix either. Sounds like there is still no substitute for vendors who actively work directly with the farmers to source good kava.
No, there is no change. I mean, there are maybe half a dozen farmers who deal directly with overseas online vendors. They're a very tiny minority. The tens of thousands of other kava farmers who sell locally have no reason to care.
This means that the only people who are inquiring about cultivars is foreigners? Of course, for the various cultivars to exist at all, seems probable that someone cared at some point. Interesting though. I got mixed feelings about the international market influencing what is grown etc...
Yes.
Before commercialization. Maybe even before then, back when farmers still drank their own kava fresh out of the ground.
The international market isn't influencing what is grown. The average Fijian farmer doesn't care one way or another. It's all kava to him. He will plant whatever stem cuttings he has regardless of what cultivar it is.
Well, In Vanuatu the town nakamals tend to get supplied through family connections. E.g. if you want to drink kava Paama, go to a Paamese nakamal, and so on. As for the cultivars, it's whatever comes on the boat from home, sometimes mixed together.
