_byron
Kava Enthusiast
https://www.foodandwine.com/kava-bars-7500103
The article talks about the rise of kava bars and ready-to-drink (RTD) kava beverages. I am curious what others think about flavoring with kava. Personally I think it is entirely a pointless endeavor to try and mask the flavor of kava. The only way to mask it is to use extracts which are not even the same balance of kavalactones hence a completely different experience. Extracts tend to be more energizing and lack the main component of kava, social relaxation.
Besides extracts not being the full experience masking the flavor of kava makes the product more of a novelty and something that won't get people to deep dive into the world of kava. In my opinion the not so great tasting nature of kava should be a selling point more than something that needs to be masked. When you first try coffee it doesn't taste good, but you drink it cause you know that people drink it for a reason. The same thought pattern should be applied to kava.
Another point I thought of is RTD kava in a store will just look like any other NA "mocktail". This market is already way too oversaturated and not going to last long, but a fresh RTD kava drink made with traditional kava, preferably fresh green will stand out on the shelves as something unique in the world of NA drinks.
I bring this up because even in the last week I have found several new RTD kava beverages that launched or are soon to be launched, and none of them have a traditional kava in their line up. Personally I was too young to witness the 1998-2002 kava boom, but I don't believe RTD kava beverages were the catalyst for this boom. If anything the RTD kava doing this time hindered the kava movement because people might have tried kava in an Arizona iced tea felt maybe a little something, but ultimately wrote it off as a novelty. I believe the boom we saw during this time was because of the positive marketing and messaging of a natural relaxation plant.
My last point on my open rant about RTD kava beverages is let's imagine a flavored extract drink does really take off in the market. Coca-cola and Pepsi would immediately and easily jump into the market and take everyone out of business. However if someone was to create a RTD TRADITIONAL kava beverage Coke or Pepsi would have to figure out the process and have a lot more infrastructure to set-up with these issues they would be much more likely not to enter.
Interested to hear others thoughts on my rant, thanks
The article talks about the rise of kava bars and ready-to-drink (RTD) kava beverages. I am curious what others think about flavoring with kava. Personally I think it is entirely a pointless endeavor to try and mask the flavor of kava. The only way to mask it is to use extracts which are not even the same balance of kavalactones hence a completely different experience. Extracts tend to be more energizing and lack the main component of kava, social relaxation.
Besides extracts not being the full experience masking the flavor of kava makes the product more of a novelty and something that won't get people to deep dive into the world of kava. In my opinion the not so great tasting nature of kava should be a selling point more than something that needs to be masked. When you first try coffee it doesn't taste good, but you drink it cause you know that people drink it for a reason. The same thought pattern should be applied to kava.
Another point I thought of is RTD kava in a store will just look like any other NA "mocktail". This market is already way too oversaturated and not going to last long, but a fresh RTD kava drink made with traditional kava, preferably fresh green will stand out on the shelves as something unique in the world of NA drinks.
I bring this up because even in the last week I have found several new RTD kava beverages that launched or are soon to be launched, and none of them have a traditional kava in their line up. Personally I was too young to witness the 1998-2002 kava boom, but I don't believe RTD kava beverages were the catalyst for this boom. If anything the RTD kava doing this time hindered the kava movement because people might have tried kava in an Arizona iced tea felt maybe a little something, but ultimately wrote it off as a novelty. I believe the boom we saw during this time was because of the positive marketing and messaging of a natural relaxation plant.
My last point on my open rant about RTD kava beverages is let's imagine a flavored extract drink does really take off in the market. Coca-cola and Pepsi would immediately and easily jump into the market and take everyone out of business. However if someone was to create a RTD TRADITIONAL kava beverage Coke or Pepsi would have to figure out the process and have a lot more infrastructure to set-up with these issues they would be much more likely not to enter.
Interested to hear others thoughts on my rant, thanks
