Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Kava methods by region

nickbroken

nickbroken

Kava Enthusiast
So I was reading a post somewhere that mentioned that in Tonga they heavily dilute kava with large amounts of water while in Vanuatu they use less water to make a stronger drink. I was wondering the pros and cons of each method and alao wonder the methods commonly practiced in Hawaii, Fiji, and other kava drinking nation.
 
R

recentreturn

Kava Enthusiast
I have never been to fiji and so certainly can't speak from any direct experience. However, I was first introduced to kava by someone who had just spent a couple years living there. He showed me to make kava quite weak. As I recall, it was ready when you could stir, scoop it out of the bowl and pour it back in and see only a tiny bit of light come thru it, but some light. Also, the water was to be around room temperature (or, in any case, a little warmer than what comes out of an american cold tap). And we played cards and listened to music while we drank the grog. Playing cards was a great compliment to drinking grog with friends.
 
Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

Kava Expert
Kava Vendor
Krunkie McKrunkface said:
In micronesia their sakau on the rock is thick, slimy and sludgy because of the hibiscus root they use in making the grog, to filter it through. It's supposed to enhance the effects, though.

https://vagabond3.com/survive-this-sakau/
Click to expand...
Your right, it is very slimy but it is not because of the Hibiscus root, they use the bark from the Hibiscus or Hau as it is called here in Hawaii. The bark is used to strain the kava and the inside of the bark has all the slime.
Back in the 1990's when as the President of the Hawaii Awa Council we had a lot of International kava conference's and at one of these I was honored to be part of a ceremony that was done by Micronesian's and it was a cool thing to be a part of and yes the kava was slimy but good. Aloha.

Chris
 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Henry said:
Tongans make extremely watery kava. It's slightly stronger (because the kava is better) in Tonga itself, but the Tongan kava cirles outside of Tonga basically drink kava-flavoured water. But because they drink it for hours and hours they end up with some kavalactones in the system. When I was on Tongatapu people would go to their kava club on Friday at 5pm and leave on Saturday at 5am spending 12 hours drinking kava non-stop. Faikava in Tonga is about socialising, telling stories, singing songs, so the kava they drink cannot be too strong or else everyone would fall asleep/go home after a couple of hours.
Interestingly, this means that few Tongans ever experience the proper kavain rush, at least that's what I gathered on the basis of my conversations in Tonga and in Auckland.
Click to expand...
I drink kava for 16 hours non-stop every day, so yeah, one can't be getting legless krunk with every shell.

The real excitement starts when I fall asleep, that's when the kavalactones really kick in for me.
 
kastom_lif

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
Micronesia: fresh root, pounded on a stone and strained with hibiscus bark. Pretty thick.

Northern Vanuatu: fresh root, ground on a coral stone, strained with a calico. Super strong. No tanoa/kumete--Each serving is squozen individually.

Tanna: fresh root, chewed and spit out, then strained with bark or calico. Super strong. Each serving squeezed individually.

Vanuatu, in town: Fresh root, run thru a grinder and strained with a calico into a bucket. Strong.

Fiji: dried root, either pounded or pre-ground. Strained with either bark or cloth. The whole mix is done at once in a tanoa. Medium strength.

Tonga: Same as Fiji but the mix is a little wai cala by Fijian standards, and the tanoa is called a kumete.
 
nickbroken

nickbroken

Kava Enthusiast
Yeah I love the posts in this thread, it helps me gain more of the knowledge behind kava. I normally just drink it to get tore up, but this makes me want to grab a rock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top