Kava

[Bula Kava House]

For the record, not all tudei makes people nauseous and gives them a hangover. The two non-noble kavas we've sold in the past, Koniak and a particular Hawaiian Isa, neither of which we currently sell, had great reviews both here and on our online store. They were very popular with both new and repeat customers (Koniak was probably our most popular ground root at the time), and didn't have any more reports of ill effects than any other noble kava. I suppose it's possible that you could classify the Koniak we used to sell and Isa as medicinal, which is another documented kava type, though the line is blurry because there is no definition of what a noble, medicinal, and a tudei kava is. We have a couple lists; The Vanuatu Kava Act, and the Codex, but they don't specify how to make the distinction and they're not exhaustive. At Bula Kava House we test all our kava and we know what a noble chemotype looks like and what a tudei chemotype looks like. If the chemotype looks strange or unfamiliar we assume it's a mix.

It is true that many tudei kavas are too potent or have nasty side effects but there's a range and on one side of that range there are some kavas that feel quite good to a lot of people. I've asked quite a few Ni-Van people if they enjoy tudei as well. A few said no, some said yes, often. Most said that at least sometimes they do. Gotta figure that a plant that was basically created in its current form by humans must have been done so for a reason. There are 196 distinct kavas listed in the Vanuatu Kava Act. Only 12 are listed as noble in the Act. I find it hard to believe that for over 3,000 years people would develop kava only to drink about 6% of them.

Not trying to argue. Tudei kava, right or wrong, is banned (By the government. From what I gather, farmers and citizens had very little say in the Vanuatu Kava Act) for export from Vanuatu so it shouldn't be sold. That doesn't mean that some kava drinkers won't find value in some varieties. At the end of the day, this is why testing is important. So every kava sold can be properly labeled and customers can make informed decisions. We choose to sell only noble kava but I support any vendor selling contaminant free, clean, non noble kava if it is something that kava drinkers are enjoying.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

It's hard to tell whether people who enjoyed your tudei had had much experience with any kava or if they were simply comparing it with alcohol, a bit like @HeadHodge does. Your tudei kava (for the record: no longer for sale, this was a couple of years ago, at the moment all BKH Vanuatuan kava is meant to be noble) was the only kava that made me physically ill (and the sickness lasted for 2 days or more!) in my kava drinking history (years of kava drinking, including drinking kava on various islands of the south pacific). I drink kava with 10 + people and most of them are very experienced kava drinkers, including some that have been drinking kava for 20 years. They couldn't believe anyone would drink that tudei.

I am not saying that everyone will react to tudei in this way, it is possible that tudei-reaction depend on individual metabolism. It's perfectly possible that some people just don't react badly to tudei or any other other kava. But it is also possible that for many people tudei is still a better option than booze and they are the ones who were happy with it.It is also possible that some people like to get roughed up by kava for all sorts of reasons and they feel that all the tudei-related side effects are a price worth paying for the type of effect they desire. That's fine. We are all different and have different desires. I've read in Lebot's and Simoeoni's book that some tudei(ish) varieties have been traditionally used in funeral ceremonies in one part of melanesia as people seeked to get very intoxicated quickly and to drift off to deep sleep and mourn the next day. I suppose using it this way (for funerals) would be quite appropriate from the point of view of its chemistry. But surely this doesn't mean it's a kind of kava that should be used for making extracts or for daily ,recreational drinking. But again, just my opinion.

Regarding your argument about the number of tudei cultivars and that it's some kind of a proof that people drink it.
There are 43 known cultivars of piper wichmanii (wild kava). As you surely know, nobody, even the desperate, touch wichmanii. Whoa, so how come there are so many cultivars!
To me it seems that the big number of wichmanii and tudei in Vanuatu and total absence of such cultivars in other places that got their kava from that region suggests that they have always been considered as "less desirable" or even "undesirable" or even "undrinkable" (as they were described in the literature 20 years ago). Some conemporary residents of Port Vila might say they drink this kava from time to time, but when I was in Vila I also saw people drinking rum or vodka after kava. So I guess there are some people who like to get totally smashed or who are more resistant to the hard stuff. However, this tells us little about the deep cultural practices surrounding kava that have developed over 3 millenia and countless kava drinking sessions.

While there are indeed tens of tudei, wichmanii and at least 12 noble cultivars in Vanuatu, there are only 7 noble cultivars in Tonga, only 2 in modern French Polynesia, etc. Despite evidence of robust, ancient kava trade and kava transportation across the entire Pacific, it seems that nobody considered tudei or wichmanii worthy of propagation. And we can be fairly confident that this was a concious decision as it's way easier to grow tudei and wichmanii actually has seeds - and is therefore way easier to transport and plant than methysticum. The ease of growing could perhaps explain the presence of so many non-noble cultivars in Vanuatu..

This is just my comment regarding your suggestion that the number of tudei cultivars indicates its usefulness or desirability or anything else. And again, my comment is not intended to suggest that tudei will make every single person who tries it sick. It's just a potential counter argument to your theory that might make some jump to quick conclusions.

Anyway, I am very glad that BKH now only sells noble kava from Vanuatu and that you have managed to make sure that your suppliers don't spike it with tudei or any other crap. If you are indeed one of the largest retailers in America then that's great news for kava and kava's reputation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I hope you don't mind me sharing my perspective on tudei.

 

[Bula Kava House]

Thanks for the input, Henry. Regarding your inquiry about if the people who enjoyed Koniak and Isa were experienced: Yes, many were, including myself! I still have all the reviews for Koniak even though the product is no longer available and many of them are from experienced kava drinkers. Many of the reviews here on the forums were from experienced drinkers as well. I'm not saying nobody had ill effects, as you claim to have, but nausea and other side effects happen with all kava varieties from time to time, person to person. There are tudei varieties that would make most people sick, don't get me wrong, but there are a few that I've tried that are totally pleasant for a lot of people.

The number of cultivars is pretty good anecdotal evidence in my opinion and the comparison you made with wichmanii isn't really valid. Wichmanii is a wild, naturally reproducing plant, whereas kava is only reproduced through human propogation. If we're to believe that no medicinal or tudei kava has much of a reason for use, we're also to believe that for over 3,000 years Ni-Vanuatu were purposefully reproducing a plant they had little intention to use. Seems like a pretty good waste of time to me. Is that hard and fast evidence? No, but it definitely makes me wonder. The people I spoke to about the use of non noble kava in Vanuatu were not only youngsters in the bustling metropolis of Port Vila, but also villagers and farmers on Pentecost and Santo, nakamal owners, exporters, etc. The lack of non noble kava in other countries would mostly be because noble kava is an everyday kava. If kava were an important part of my culture and I had to pick one or two to take with me, I'd take noble as well. Obviously noble kavas are a much better all around choice for most kava drinkers, which is why that is what we sell.

Thanks again. Differing opinions presented in a friendly way are welcome.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Thanks for your reply. Well, I think a more convincing explanation for the big number of non-noble cultivars could be the one suggested (I think - it's been a while since I read it, but just want to give them credit if it is indeed their explanation) in "Les Buveurs du Kava" (Lebot and Simoeoni, 2015). Tudei kava is much more resistant to drought, fungal infestation, some forms of plant disease etc. So it is possible that it was planted as an "insurance" policy. I.e. should noble kava die or should a cyclone wipe it out, tudei could either be still growing or could be regrown quickly and used for those ceremonies which required using kava. Or perhaps it was the cultivar grown by the less skilled growers (as it's been the case with Isa in Hawaii, from what I've heard). After all, to use a somewhat clumsy analogy, we also see more junk food joints than healthy food restaurants in our own culture.

In any case, I agree with you that it's pretty obvious that if anyone was to select one or two top kavas for regular use, it would most certainly not be a tudei variety, which probably explains the lack of any non-noble cultivars outside of Vanuatu.

 

[Bula Kava House]

Interesting explanation. Though I wonder why they would plant 184 distinct insurance policies. They were being extra careful!

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Well, it's not like each village had 184 distinct tudei cultivars. Rather, there are 105 tudei and 83 medicinal cultivars that can be found across all islands. It is fair to assume that that tudei was the first step from wichmanii. It could have been spreading earlier and for quite a while around northern Vanuatu. Once noble emerged, it gradually replaced tudei as the drink of choice, but I don't think anyone would suddenly burn all their old tudei plants. Seemingly kava started spreading towards Polynesia after noble kava became established and no migrants or traders were interested in anything other than those noble cultivars.. Besides, as mentioned earlier, noble is way more likely to perish under less than ideal circumstances. We know of at least 10 (off the top of my head) "lost" noble cultivars. I myself have recently travelled to one island in order to try to locate one of the lost noble cultivars (I was unsuccessful). It is possible that the high number of tudei vs noble reflects their resistance to adverse conditions and not their potential desirability.

We are just speculating here, obviously, but I would say that my (or actually Lebot's) explanation/speculation is at least as good as yours.