Kava Festival 2012 - Hawaii

[Steve]

Hi all - Adil (Paradise Kava) and I (Steve  - Kava
Kava Candy) had a chance to join forces and hang out during the 2012 Kava
Festival at the University of Hawaii.



It is great to see the community come together once a year to celebrate 'Awa,
culture, and friendship.  It is not often that you get a chance to take
part in Pa'i'ai (pounding taro), drink tons of different kavas, talk to
scientists, and meet other kava fanatics who drink more than us...lol.   It is also great to meet new
people looking to see what kava is all about. Here are a few pics:
#1 - Lots of local music & food all day long

#2 - Look at all that delicious extract from Paradise Kava!

#3 - Adil working magic and giving samples.  I gotta say, it was really cool to see peoples responses when they tried the extract.  Whoa..that is some strong stuff!

#4 - Kava Candy in the house!  People would come over from sampling and rating about 12 different varietals and need some candy to cleanse the palate

#5 - Wonder twin powers activate - really had a good time hanging out w/Adil all the way from Hilo

#6 - Something about the kava fest and dogs...this Shiba Inu was the mascot.

#7 - whew...a little break to take a picture

#8 - end of a crazy & fun day!  "wait, we can't finish our beers and dinner...  why is everyone frantically leaving?"  hell breaks loose!

#9 - Adil really wanted to do some night diving in Waikiki but his plans were halted.

 

[kl.new2kava]

Looks like alot of fun. I have always wanted to see Hawaii and a kava fest would make it awesomer. I have always speculated that it would be a cool idea to set up a mobile nakamal and follow music festivals. Then I thought of the fact that people drink booze like water and go all out with the other "party toys" that it would likely make people ill. A kava festival sounds awesome as people would be mellow and relaxed, it wouldn't have the evil strung out practically clockwork orange vibe I see at big music fests.

 

[Paradise Kava]

Right on Steve, Thanks for putting the pictures up! Totally, I felt like Santa handing out samples of extract to people all day. Making people feel good, one at a time, lol! good fun~

Really glad you asked me to share a booth and it was great catching up with you and your missus. Great 4 day party in general.

Thank God that Tsunami was not big (and that I caught the news before jumping in the ocean that night. LOL! that would have sucked me out to sea!)

Hopefully some peeps from this forum will want to hang next year for a day long kava sesh!

It will be fun to say the least!

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Awesome pics! Looks like a good time was had by all. Happy to see that the tsunami didn't pack a punch in the end. I can't wait to try the Vanilla Coconut extract (is it the one with the blue label?).

 

[The Kap'n]

Ahh, look at that. Looks like fun. The most I've ever talked about kava in a 1-1 setting was on the phone with Adil so 4 days would probably satiate my curiosity for quite a while. Also....that extract jar behind the Tanoa, the "tanker" size. We need that as an option.

Vesuvio Cat, the blue one is chocolate. The New flavor is tan colored on the label.

 

[Ozzyfan121]

Thanks for the envy-inducing pictures. That looks like such a blast! I'm glad you guys had fun and were mostly unaffected by the tsunami. My mother and I are hoping/planning to go next year--it would be very cool to meet some of you. I agree with the Kap'n; that would be a really nice sized amount of extract; perhaps my family wouldn't eat all of it in three days.



P.S. Adil, you look just a little bit like Angel from Dexter. If that was extremely off topic, I apologize; I'm krunk/mulungu'd bright and early, and that may be contributing to my chattiness.

 

[Steve]

To give you all an idea at the tasting table they had both dry and fresh:
Mahakea
Mapulehu
Rahmedel (pohnpei)
Iwi (Papua New Guinea)

Also had some
Nene
varietal from Fiji (sorry can't remember what kind),
Hinehina (Vava'u, Tonga) from Kava Boy,
Fresh batch from Kanaka Kava grown on the Hamakua coast
Some Borogu


Ozzyfan121 - you had me rolling about the Angel from Dexter.  I did not know who that was so I had to look it up.  Sooooo funny!  Sorry Adil, I had to post this (you looked much better than I did for sure

 

[Paradise Kava]

lol! had no idea who Dexter was till now.

Hope he's a fun character cause that's what we're about. Fun, friendship, laughter and the krunking comes naturally right Steve?

Kapm, your eyes are VERY sharp brother. That 'tanker' is a 150 gram size we were going to introduce and MAY introduce late Nov.
It's in the works like much else. Pricing should be the most attractive of all jar sizes on that.

Vesuvio, the coconut is the brown label, labels are not ready just yet. Those are make shifts.

 

[Buddhacide]

Awesome! I may start budgeting to go next year.

 

[Ozzyfan121]

Don't sweat it, Adil. He's one of the best characters. I would totally be up for the tanker size, by the way.

 

[Paradise Kava]

Buddhacide, You make it here and I'll take care of your kava drinks for the entire day bro. Applies to anyone else too. Kava drinks on the house for the day boy and girls. Just come on over!

ozzyfan, that's good to hear Dexter's a cool cat.

Will keep the 'tanker' size in mind. Maybe something for December.

Cheers!
A.G

 

[krunkedout]

Buddhacide, You make it here and I'll take care of your kava drinks for the entire day bro. Applies to anyone else too. Kava drinks on the house for the day boy and girls. Just come on over!

ozzyfan, that's good to hear Dexter's a cool cat.

Will keep the 'tanker' size in mind. Maybe something for December.

Cheers!
A.G

^^ this guy, is awesome. If only I could make it over there for the java fest! Rest assured I will make it there some day!!

 

[Ed!]

Now that you mention it, Angel is a kind of laid back and positive-thinking character, I betcha he's krunked.

 

[Steve]

here is a little clip from UH student media

http://www.uhpro.org/2012/11/kava-festival-2012/