Kava Preparation Kava Processing in Fiji

[Kava Time]

Here's a series of pictures to show you how your roots are processed in Fiji. We use kandap machines because Fijians here find that using a hammer mill or any form of grinder slightly burns the kava (I haven't tested myself) and makes the powder too fine which makes straining much harder. They complain that you can feel the kava in your throat when you chug it down (meaning chalky). I forgot to take pics right from the start but anyways it takes about 1 to 1.5 hours to process about 8kg in 1 machine. The fibrous stuff you may notice is the actual makas..you can imagine what a nightmare would be to remove those from the roots itself when its harvested. On a commercial scale it would be a nightmare. I reckon by the third pic you could use a fine strainer to sieve the powder out to separate about 90% of the makas. The strained powder would contain about 10% but shouldn't cause any problems in my opinion. I made a 13sec video at first pic but its 30mb large il try uploading later.
Anyways the kava being processed is the savusavu and it will be travelling to Australia for my uncles stash. Bula everyone!

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Awesome stuff !

more more more !

 

[Deleted User01]

Great post @Kavatime!

 

[theGrogfather]

@Kava Time
That's cool, would love to see the video.
So do all your farmers ship root bundles to you, then you process them all?

 

[Kava Time]

@Kava Time
That's cool, would love to see the video.
So do all your farmers ship root bundles to you, then you process them all?

yeah pretty much. We have to rewash the roots though because it contains mud particles here and there. Because farmers dont have access to proper power supply or tap water supply where they are based so we have to just redo it. I tried to upload but get an error since the video is like 30mb in size.

 

[theGrogfather]

yeah pretty much. We have to rewash the roots though because it contains mud particles here and there. Because farmers dont have access to proper power supply or tap water supply where they are based so we have to just redo it. I tried to upload but get an error since the video is like 30mb in size.

That makes sense, your roots come from further remote places. So who grinds all the roots sold in the markets? The vendor or do some farmers have access to the equipment?

 

[Kava Time]

That makes sense, your roots come from further remote places. So who grinds all the roots sold in the markets? The vendor or do some farmers have access to the equipment?

We process kava for nadi and namaka market vendors too..been doing that for over 20 years now...on average we process about 1 tonne of grog from monday to saturday. sundays is closed. Our processing capacity is about 2.2 tonnes for the 6 days. There are a few kava processors here and there in fiji which process the kava for farmers/vendors/consumers for a small fee - $1 - 2 per kg

 

[Kava Time]

 

[theGrogfather]

We process kava for nadi and namaka market vendors too..been doing that for over 20 years now...on average we process about 1 tonne of grog from monday to saturday. sundays is closed. Our processing capacity is about 2.2 tonnes for the 6 days. There are a few kava processors here and there in fiji which process the kava for farmers/vendors/consumers for a small fee - $1 - 2 per kg

That's awesome, thanks for the insight! And for the many years of labour that I'm sure many appreciate
Vinaka and keep those posts coming!

 

[nickbroken]

It's mesmerizing.