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Poor misunderstood Lawena

Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
I think Lawena gets a bum rap. You drink it and it's like "is that all there is?"

But that's not the point. Lawena is good to drink by itself occasionally, for day time or when you want brief light pure heady.

But what it's really great for is mixing, rounding out a waka or a Vanuatu, or anything heavy or strong tasting. Smoothing the edges, lightening the taste, ading a more rounded kavalactone profile. In some cases it can perform the miracle of making an otherwise undrinkable kava drinkable. Lawena is valuable for what it can do.

IMO the go-to ratio is 3:1, with 1 being the Lawena. But 2:1 and 4:1 are also good, depending on the other grind and your mood. My mistake in the old days was blending 1:1. The only satisfying 1:1 blend of waka:lawena I've found so far is the Squanchies, which is excellent, I must say, awesome, well worth enjoying. But that's the only one. Anyone know of any other combo worth drinking 1:1?

And good lawena is great, especially for drinking by itself, but to get the lawena effect when blending it doesn't even have to be particularly good lawena, just good enough, as the other grind will still predominate.
 
Alia

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
TheKavaFlow said:
I might be alone, but I really enjoy just lawena on it's own. It's far easier to drink and has effects that are many times more relaxing than the waka-punch.
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Yes, as a 30 plus year drinker of dry and fresh, I have always felt lawena deserved more attention. Sometimes I think waka has been rated higher as a way to get a better price and leave the lawena (the good stuff) to the indigenous folks who grow it.
 
ThePiper

ThePiper

Kava Lover
I agree it's a great mixer. The issue with it to me isn't so much the overall potency but the fact that it's often hit or miss at giving me the feeling I'm seeking. Occasionally it gives me an upset stomach without adequate anxiety relief or moodlift. At that point I cant really stomach drinking a whole other batch of my usual stuff because my stomach is already compromised. It seems like my taste in lawena ebbs and flows though because there have been times where it was pretty euphoric and smooth and yet it proves unusually difficult to replicate that experience. Lawena is cheaper but its still costly enough to feel like a gamble. There are regular kavas that cost the same as most lawena. If it were like half the price of a good Waka it would be well worth mixing in with most of my sessions
 
PepperyPyrone

PepperyPyrone

I'll have the pyrones with some pepper, please.
I always have Squanch Lawena on hand to mix with many Fijian wakas, it really does help complete kava circle in many cases. If that makes sense. Smooths out the edges for sure. I will say I have neva mixed a Fijian lawena with a Vanuatu waka. I guess they are always so different in taste that I never really paired them. Like Squanch Lawena with BHK or KWK Borogu, never even was a thought. Just too different in effects and taste (if taste really matters, I guess it doesn't when your chugging something). Maybe I should?
 
nabanga

nabanga

Kava Enthusiast
I think its a bit of a myth that lawena is weak too - it certainly has a lower kavalactone concentration than waka when comparing the same strain/plant, but can still make a significantly strong tanoa of kava. Almost all the fresh kava sold in nakamals in Vanuatu is 90-95% stump root, probably more these days with the demand for waka export.
 
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