What is special about Solomons kava?

[JonT]

I"ve been drinking kava for about 4 years but recently ended up in Honiara where I indulged in some of the local stuff. For those who've been there, it was down at the Pacific Haus on the waterfront (which comes complete with a tragic set of trapped dolphins and even more tragic caged crocodile). I had 9 full shells in about 45 minutes. Cost per shell was 5 sollie dollars = 1 nzd or 83 cents US. Yeah, rather cheap. 
I'm not sure if it was the quantity of the variety but it was knock your socks off stuff. I ended up a few hours later with a colossal headrush, which I've rarely experienced before. The entire next day I could only shuffle around town (the heat didn't help) and I was very heavily anaesthetised. They also sold 1.5 litre "takeaway" in plastic bottles for absurb prices, something like NZD10 or USD8. That would keep you going for a few days. 
I had been warned, by many people, about Solomons kava and its strength.
So what makes it so special? Was this just a case of overindulging? I'm not sure.
I know they did not make it from powder, it was straight from root. I had the same deal in Port Vila, in one of those shady, quiet kava bars that abound. 
There is a definite but hard to describe difference in the flavour of powdered vs fresh root. I cannot conclude on the effects without more experimentation. My understanding is that powder is the only realistic way to ship and store for long times and distances. 
I would love to be able to buy this stuff but it's hard to find. Is PNG kava similar?
I was tempted by all the varieties on the Nakamal at Home but for some reason they will not ship to New Zealand. It is not listed as a possible country. I can ship almost anywhere, including Niue but not to NZ. Why not? NZ and Australia do have Biosecurity but I have many times brought kava powder past them. Declare it and they have never had an issue. 
So it looks like my only choice of PNG kava, plus many others is lost. :-/ 

thanks

 

[kl.new2kava]

The only kava I've ever had from Solomon was back when N@H carried Solomon Islands kava. They discontinued it almost 2 years ago and I have yet to see it elsewhere or anything really comparable. I only had the root powder though, I can't imagine the power that would come from fresh.



The only way to know what makes so unique is to see the kavalactone profile. It is most likely very high in something that others are usually relatively low in. I remember that it had the effect of warping you unlike most others I've tried. I'm not sure what to speculate it was rich in. Since I don't recall it causing nausea I think it wasn't high in double-bonded kavalactones

and my guess is it was one of the more rare lactones.



I've never seen anything other cultivars that resemble it's effects. From what I've experienced the Papua New Guinea kavas tend to be higher in double-bonded kavalactones, most notable DHM. This makes them sedating and muscle melting, but also adds to next day feelings and hangovers. Isa/tudei are native to PNG from what I recall and N@H's chief's is a PNG as well, neither are remotely like SI sadly.....

 

[Prince Philip]

I remember re-reading Kava, the Pacific Elixir recently and looking to see what I can find.

It appears to be a Wichmannii variant. Beyond that, it's hard to say.

Morphologically, I've been told by the bartender known as John Frum that this is a creeper variant. I would have asked about the color, pubescence, and internode length, but I wasn't expecting to go Medicine Hunting in Paradise.

I really don't like Solomons, but I would like to preserve the option.

 

[JonT]

Looks like I'm out of luck for the time being then. You guys are going over my head with all this detail about DHM and various lactone strains



I am still tempted by PNG kava, for something a little different. Is it particularly bad for your liver though? And does anyone other than N@H sell it?

 

[Kojo Douglas]

What were you doing in the Solomons? I worked on a research project on Simbo Island (near Ghizo) in 2009.

 

[JonT]

What were you doing in the Solomons? I worked on a research project on Simbo Island (near Ghizo) in 2009.

I was just there for a severe weather project, very short term (1 week!). I never left Honiara. There were riots in Ghizo when I was there though.

 

[JonT]

I just came back to this after a while. I read the review here

http://kavasseur.blogspot.co.nz/2010/08/in-league-of-its-own-nakamal-at-homes.html


whilst browsing through the kavasseur archives.


Bear in mind the kava I drank was not a "brand", it was just whatever they were serving up in the bar, but I am astonished to find that the descriptions of N@H's Solomons Kava is so accurate for what I experienced.

In a League of It's Own is a great way to put it. I have still not found a kava that affected me the way kava in the Solomons did.


The comments are excellent also:

"I found it interesting what Kaiden said about the anger amplification. Disinhibitedness with Amplification, Agreed. Loved Solomon Island’s variety. New favorite. Instantly goes to head. Easy euphoria. Nice numbness (pronounced, long-lasting) which seems connected to muscle-easiness; a kind of sway-fulness, a danceability in one’s step. Easy to get excited about things, easy to focus on a subject, or conversation. In that way, it feels “stimulant”-ish, but with the sway-ful background behind it."




Uncanny. So it is starting to sound like there is something very similar about these two kavas, and it obviously can't lie in the preparation (one is from fresh root, the other from powder). So it surely must be the strain. So kava from the Solomon Islands is somehow unique - it's not so much that N@H grabbed a good supplier. It's something in the soil? Or in the variety itself?


This makes me more determined to find a way to get some kava from the Solomons, somehow, given I don't see a sign of commercial operations opening up the possibility soon.

 

[mos3z]

is there a reason solomon isnt available? i would love to try it

 

[JonT]

I think the supplier massively increased the price so N@H gave up.

 

[kl.Solo11]

Yea, it would be outlandish for them to sell at a price they would need to sell to be worth there while is what i read on there site a while ago. But, I have been wondering for a while now, how hard it would be to actually contact a distributor directly, as these things are possible, except the kava business outside of the U.S might not be very commercial and therefor hard to find, i just keep thinking that it would be cool to get a bunch of ppl who want it together and ordering a few k's directly, i bet it wouldnt cost anymore than what it used to, ive thought about starting a thread about this to gather others info and opinions, but never did. They just cant sell it because they probably have to double the price of whatever they get it for. So I dont know, would be cool if anyone knew anything.

 

[krunkedout]

Does anyone know of any other place that sells kava from the Solomon islands? I really want to try some but when n@h was still selling it I was cheap on kava.