Sakau
- Thread starter Orz[EST]
- Start date
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
You mean Pohnpei, FSM kava? Likely Rahmwanger or Rahmedel cultivars.
Sakau is kava in Micronesia, usually, exclusively fresh.
The late, great Bill Raynor (Pohnpei, Nature Conservancy) co-ran a sakau
drinking establishment with his wife was fond of saying- "To understand
Pohnpei, and Pohnpeians you must understand sakau."
Yes, I've tried it and it's excellent. Always mixed with cambium layer of hibiscus
tilaceus which is resinous.
Tnx. I read further.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Hibiscus tiliaceus - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Palmetto
Thank God!
Rahmwanger is quite good. Almost as good as one of the better Hawaiian cultivars. Overall heady. Hawaiian Pana Ewa is a slightly better version of the same effects.
Now there is a kava expert you may have written to recently that claims Rahmedel is amazing. It's chemotype is very heady. Haven't had the fortune of trying it yet, but he has grown it, I believe.
Now there is a kava expert you may have written to recently that claims Rahmedel is amazing. It's chemotype is very heady. Haven't had the fortune of trying it yet, but he has grown it, I believe.
Michael Nielsen
Kava Enthusiast
Try with Puu O hoku ranch
Lenticels
AluNaw
Michael Nielsen
Kava Enthusiast
I did remember that they where growing those sakau strains also.
Lenticels
AluNaw
Ah, I made a bit of a gaffe; apologies.
I didn't read their website carefully enough and relied on my somewhat fragmented memory that "Molokai" was the sole cultivar they have, when, in fact, Molokai is an island in Hawaii... I guess I need to brush up on my geography a bit!
Anyhoo, they have ten cultivars (I'm not sure why they call them "varieties" when they're factually cultivars), and with each order you apparently receive three of said ten at random... I guess you could try supplicating the owner to get more and/or just one cultivar? Ha...
Certainly of interest, though, fresh-frozen kava root... I may very well give it a shot, as the KLs seem to be more readily released, and flavor-wise there are also advantages.
nabanga
Kava Enthusiast
I recently had 5 months in Micronesia - home of sakau. Whilst sakau is most popular in Pohnpei, most of the kava in FSM is grown on Fefen island, in Chuuk state, an island well known for its fertile soil. This is just a 10 minute boat ride from the main Chuuk island of Weno, and the fresh roots are exported to Pohnpei from Fefen. I asked my kava drinking friends in Chuuk about Rahmwanger and Rahmedel, and none of them had heard of it - they weren't aware of different strains of kava, and just knew it as "Fefen kava".
The traditional prep of sakau uses fresh kava wrung with hibiscus and minimal water, and is very thick and potent - very strong even for a seasoned kava drinker. For me it has a similar kick to chewed kava in Tanna - one shell gives ringing ears, and changed/tunnel/snapshot vision.
Most people in FSM though - both at home and bought from takeaways - use cheap and lower quality Fijian imported dry kava, mainly Tikarams, to make sakau - still mixed with hibiscus bark, so still has a thick and slightly slimy texture, but not altogether traditional. I bought a lot of takeaway bottles of this commercial sakau, US$3 for a 300ml reused water bottle, but gave up after a while as it was too weak, and mixed my own.
The traditional prep of sakau uses fresh kava wrung with hibiscus and minimal water, and is very thick and potent - very strong even for a seasoned kava drinker. For me it has a similar kick to chewed kava in Tanna - one shell gives ringing ears, and changed/tunnel/snapshot vision.
Most people in FSM though - both at home and bought from takeaways - use cheap and lower quality Fijian imported dry kava, mainly Tikarams, to make sakau - still mixed with hibiscus bark, so still has a thick and slightly slimy texture, but not altogether traditional. I bought a lot of takeaway bottles of this commercial sakau, US$3 for a 300ml reused water bottle, but gave up after a while as it was too weak, and mixed my own.
