A blog post explaining why you need a strainer bag to prepare kava, what makes a good strainer bag and how to look after your kava strainer. Turning traditional grind kava into an effective and enjoyable drink is fairly simple, provided you do have some fine kava AND the right strainer bag. While the former is admittedly more important than the latter, using an appropriate strainer bag can make a massive difference to your kava drinking experience.
Read moreInterview with Dr Vincent Lebot, a leading expert on kava
Anyone who’s ever studied kava or tried to find any scholarly materials on kava inevitably encountered the name of Dr Vincent Lebot*. Dr Lebot has authored or co-authored a great number of scholarly publications dedicated to the kava plant, including the famous “Kava: The Pacific Elixir” (co-authored with Lamont Lindstrom and Mark Merlin and published in 1997) and “Buveurs de Kava” (co-authored with Patricia Siméoni and published in 2019), i.e. the two most comprehensive publications on kava ever written.
Not surprisingly, Dr Lebot is often seen the father of modern kava science. It would be difficult to find anyone who has done more to help broaden the Western understanding of both the plant and the beverage. His work on kava and his insights into kava’s history, biology, chemistry and pharmacology have not just inspired multiple other researchers, but also helped and informed government officials, journalists, as well as countless kava drinkers, growers and entrepreneurs.
One of our founding members had the pleasure of sharing some fresh, green kava with Dr Lebot in Port Vila, Vanuatu a while ago. Since then we’ve stayed in touch and occasionally discussed various aspects of kava science and kava industry. After one of the recent interactions, an idea was born to conduct an interview that would allow us to share some of Dr Lebot’s insights with a wider audience. In this interview we discuss such topics as improvements to kava via cultivar selection, challenges to kava becoming more mainstream outside South Pacific, the differences between kava and kava extracts, and many others. We hope you enjoy it.
Read moreKava as an Alternative to Alcohol and Kava vs Alcohol
Some of the most commonly asked questions about kava revolve about how it compares to alcohol, whether it can be used as an alternative to alcohol and whether the two can be mixed. In today’s blog we are looking at all these questions. More specifically, we would like to focus on the idea of using kava as a replacement for or perhaps an alternative to alcohol. We discuss the pros, the cons and provide a good dose of observations. Throughout the post we examine the differences between these two substances and briefly touch on the separate topic of using alcohol together with kava.
Read moreKava and Sleep Quality
One of the most common questions we receive are related to kava’s effects on sleep. We’ve decided to write this quick post to share our thoughts on this topic and to hopefully present a useful perspective on kava’s effects on sleep.
Read moreKava and Caffeine
We've found people reporting that the mixture of kava and caffeine can cause an increase in the stimulation effects of caffeine when the two are consumed within a reasonable time together. Some people find the combination uncomfortable, while some enjoy the increase in stimulation. However you feel about it, there's always a good scientific explanation regarding why and we would like to share with you what we theorize the culprit to be. Read this blog post for more information.
Read moreDifferent ways of drinking kava and the art of “listening to the kava”
Today’s post looks at the different ways of preparing and drinking kava, as well as the art of listening to the kava. We start with a look at ways in which kava is consumed as a social lubricant, particularly in places like Tonga or Fiji and then look at the method of drinking stronger kava in a more contemplative, meditative manner, i.e. the practice of “listening to the kava”.
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