Kava is the ground root and basal stems of the piper mithisticum (intoxicating peper) plant. While there are wild strains of Kava, only those that have been selectively bred over thousands of years are consumed, known as Noble Kava. It grows in the tropical regions of the south pacific islands of Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. Traditionally, Kava was prepared by masticating the root and combining the resulting mash with coconut water in a bowl (tanoa). The resulting beverage was reserved for Kings and important ceremonies.
This is only part of the story though. No one can say for certain where Kava originated. However, the island of Vanuatu is said to be the birthplace of Kava. Around the islands it’s known as many different names; ʻawa (Hawaiʻi), ʻava (Samoa), yaqona (Fiji), sakau (Pohnpei) ,and malok or malogu (parts of Vanuatu). Todays’ piper methysticum is the result of millennia of selective breeding, as the Kava plant can only reproduce through reproduction of stem cuttings. Hundreds of generations have selectively bred the wild piper wichmanii over thousands of years, sharing the roots with their friends and neighbors, and bringing the plant to new islands to create the piper methysticum of today.
In our preparation, Fijian lateral roots (waka) and stump (lawena) are combined and hand filtered and pressed using a special cloth., the same process used for thousand of years.
There are no comments yet.