If you spend a bit of time researching kava preparation methods online, you will inevitably encounter claims regarding the supposed benefits of preparing your kava with added fats (e.g. coconut oil, coconut milk, even regular milk or cream). It’s hard to tell where this idea originates from, but probably has some roots in the often repeated claim that kavalactones (kava’s active ingredients) are not soluble in water, but supposedly soluble in fats. It’s also often observed that eating a fatty snack (e.g. a bit of peanut butter) after your kava session seems to rekindle the effects of the drink. For many people the obvious conclusion is that one should add some fat to kava when preparing it traditionally, or even when preparing it using instant powder. We’ve always been skeptical. In our experience, the kava prepared with fats (even just a teaspoon of coconut oil) always seemed weaker and harder to drink. But until now we thought this was primarily because fat could coat the strainer bag and effectively clog it up. Even if more kavalatones could be released with extra fat, they would end up sticking to the strainer bag as opposed to landing in our shells. Our friends at Root and Pestle have decided to put their scientific tools to work and look more closely at what effects adding fats may have on kava. Their conclusions seem to broadly support our gut feel (i.e. don’t add fats), but for very different reasons and with some surprising insights. Check out their guest post below for a very interesting read!

The Impact of Fats on Kavalactone Extraction: New Insights into the Kava Squeeze Revealed by Forney Enterprises and Root & Pestle R&D

TL;DR: We are not aware of any indigenous cultures who historically added fats during kava preparation. Our controlled experiments found no benefits to adding fats during the squeeze, and some potential downsides. After thorough examination of the data, we’ll continue to stick with plain water.

Some background:

Ni Vanuatuan peoples have been drinking kava prepared with plain water for thousands of years, a method deeply rooted in their culture and tradition. On very rare occasions we have been told of uncommon instances where coconut water may have been added, although we’ve never seen it firsthand at a nakamal or in any village we’ve visited, and it isn’t clear if this was added during or after squeezing, or why. In days of yore, their kava was strained through woven plant materials such as pandanus or banana leaves, coconut palm fibres, bark cloth, or sometimes through compound-containing materials such as hibiscus bark, but this is very atypical nowadays, and they never add milk, cream, fats, or oils to their kava, even though these are all available to them. Although there are invariably many untapped improvements to any given process, we try to learn from those who came before us, especially when in doubt, and we thank the people of Vanuatu for extending their knowledge of kava to us.

Over 200 compounds have been isolated from kava, but it is the 6 major kavalactones which are believed to be responsible for the overwhelming majority of its desirable effects. These kavalactones are primarily produced by epithelial cells lining the resin ducts, which are abundant in the parenchyma tissue of the lateral roots and rhizomes (also known as basal roots or "stumps") of Piper methysticum. While the lateral roots are more potent in their effects, they are more difficult to process, particularly in harvesting and peeling, and they impart undesirable flavours to the drink. Therefore, it is primarily the underground stumps that are used to prepare kava for consumption at nakamals in Vanuatu. Kavalactones are lipophilic molecules, meaning they dissolve readily in fats and poorly in water. A number of studies have assessed the partition coefficients of kavalactones, demonstrating that they favour organic phases over aqueous ones. Organic solvents have also proven to extract kavalactones more efficiently than water. Thus, it seems logical that some people might believe adding fats to the squeeze during kava preparation would improve kavalactone extraction efficiency when using a strainer bag. In our trials, we found this was not the case.

Our results:

Out of 36 unique samples of kava prepared with any kind of fats/oil/milk added during squeezing, when analysed by UHPLC, none showed statistically significant higher kavalactone content than kava powder squeezed with water alone. Interestingly, almost all fatty additives resulted in lower total kavalactone extraction efficiency, decreasing the total amount of kavalactones extracted by up to 17%, and by 9% on average, compared to kava prepared using water alone.

We did not investigate the mechanism for the observed decrease in extraction efficiency, so it’s anyone’s guess at this stage whether it can be attributed to oils binding to the kava powder and preventing some particles from being released, fats clogging the pores of the strainer bag to some extent, or something entirely different. There was an increase in the total amount of material in some of the lyophilised samples of supernatant after centrifuging, but fats weren’t the secret ingredient to extracting more kavalactones in our tests, and the excess material was comprised primarily of inactive constituents, or components of the additives themselves. The chemotypes of the beverages also did not appear to be influenced by adding oil-containing products to the squeeze.

Whether it was whole dairy milk, almond milk, soy milk, olive oil, coconut milk, coconut cream, or something else, and whether it constituted just 0.3% or up to 10% of the total liquid volume, we found none of the resulting beverages to be more concentrated in kavalactones. We did not investigate emulsifiers, partially because they may be implicated in leaky gut syndrome (although this is outside our area of expertise), but also because we couldn’t find any at the limited markets available nearby when we decided to perform these experiments, and we didn’t want to wait to order them in from overseas before jumping in the deep end with this one.

When we centrifuged our samples to isolate the sediment from the supernatant (the “water layer”), we saw that some of these additives influenced how the extracted kavalactones were partitioned in the beverage; Very oily compounds, such as dairy milk, coconut milk, and olive oil all shifted the supernatant towards higher kavalactone concentrations, sometimes close to doubling the amount of kavalactone content normally found outside the sediment, however, the overwhelming majority of kavalactone content still resided in the sediment, and the total kavalactone content of the prepared kava remained unimproved, regardless of type or quantity of fat.

We found that if the extraction water contained less than 1% coconut milk or olive oil (by volume), the resulting kava was still enjoyable. Outside of these 2 exceptions, however, using virtually any amount of almost any kind of milk or fat during the squeeze substantially increased the bitterness. When large amounts (10% of the total liquid volume) of fat-containing additives were used, our team found the overall taste became much worse than when prepared with water alone, and for many additives just 1% was enough to ruin the taste of the kava for us.

We did not investigate how adding these substances to already prepared kava might influence the flavour, or how they may have influenced the taste of other kavas prepared using different methods, and we acknowledge that everyone’s taste preferences vary. Consider doing a side-by-side comparison if in doubt - the perception of taste can change with environmental conditions and a person’s physiology at any given time, but we suspect most people would easily detect an increase in bitterness when milk or other fat-containing additives are added to the squeeze.

Unsurprisingly, even small amounts of oils made for slippery gloves, and larger amounts resulted in more hassle during cleanup. When true oils comprised 0.3 – 1% of the total liquid volume, there was an oily texture to the kava, but it still appeared homogenous, with no obvious oil floating on top. At 3% oil content and above, the surface had noticeable oil separating from the mixture, even after thorough squeezing, and cleaning our automated squeezing machine became a real pain.

We did not investigate absorption or other pharmacological attributes; We only quantified the kavalactone content of the kava, but it should be noted that snacks are often available at nakamals, and some locals enjoy small nibbles of finger food after a shell. Generally, they say it is to cleanse the palate, not to potentiate the effects, but anecdotally some people do report that the kava “kicks” after they follow up their shell(s) with something to eat. As far as getting more kavalactones from the powder into your shell goes though, based on our research, adding fats during squeezing isn’t likely going to help.

Traditional methods, refined over eons by the Ni Vanuatuan peoples, remain the gold standard for a reason. In our view, this study reinforces the wisdom of sticking to plain water for the kava squeeze. If you enjoy adding fats (or anything else) to your kava, don’t let us stop you! Taste cannot be disputed, and we all have our own preferences.  

As part of our ongoing investigative series on optimising the kava squeeze, we continue to explore and validate methods to enhance the kava experience, ensuring that our practices respect tradition while embracing scientific rigor. Stay tuned for more insights and findings in our quest to help you perfect the squeeze!

Many thanks and Malok!