Nakamal at Home - Tongan and Solomon Kavas

Nakamal at Home has consistently carried a very diverse set of Kavas from around the South Pacific. They may be the only vendor who has sold Kavas from Vanuatu, Papa New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and even Hawaii (at one point). 

Tongan Kava is a very creamy, relaxing brew that takes the edge off and is perfect as an everyday Kava. It is one of my all-time favorites and I could drink this stuff all day, every day and be a perfectly happy Kavasseur.

Global Kava Exports - Malekula Magic

Global Kava Export's "Malekula Magic" is a strong, light Kava that is very heady and a good daily Kava. This Kava resonates as a nice Noble Kava that can be consumed in large bowls daily. A great Kava to drink at dusk, as you melt into the night and want to put yourself in the right state of mind for good sleep.

Real Kava/Kava Kauai - Five Star Kava (Vanuatu)

This stuff is extremely potent. It only got stronger as the night rolled forward. It has an appetite-suppressing effect and is very heady. Those who are looking for strength should look no further...

Kalm with Kava - Boronguru

I'm posting this 45 minutes after the fact and, whoa, this stuff is great. Kalm with Kava has knocked one out of the park with this one. Definitely clean Kava and has a great peak. More uplifting than calming, but with a nice smooth impact.



- Le Kavasseur

Statement From Kavasseur on Kava Testing and the Noble Vrs. Tudei Controversy

Kalm with Kava Concentrate

*Note: the price for the 10 oz. bottle is $20, not $10 as I say in the review. Too much krunking! 

Paradise Kava - Premium Vanuatu Borogu

Paradise Kava’s new Borogu blend presents a new take on Kava milling and dried root consistency. The root is imported whole from Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, transported to a state-side facility, cleaned, and milled down to a very fine product. I mention this because when you squeeze this stuff, it almost feels like you are squeezing instant Kava. In other words, make sure you are scooping the Kava into the sieve while it is already in the water. Otherwise, you will loose precious root to the countertops and floors. It is the finest-milled Kava I have ever squeezed. According to Adil, this chain of processing ensures that the Kava is pure and free of impurities. There have been some issues with Kava processing centers in the south Pacific and impurities.

This Kava comes in beautiful new packaging – a white bag with Paradise Kava’s striking new label. I like how Adil has messed with the design of the product over the years. It keeps things really fresh and interesting.

I brewed my Borogu with about four heaping tablespoons of dried root to about one litre of water. The color was a milk chocolate hue, though it was deceivingly thick (this is my doing, not Paradise Kava’s). Thus, the flavor had a distinctive earthy taste and went down like a truck. That being said, I tried a two tablespoon/litre ratio after my first batch and had a much more enjoyable Kava with nutty undertones and a smooth consistency. It is still definitely a Vanuatu Kava. I could drink Tongans and Fijians all day – like they were cranberry juice – but I would never go to Borogu for refreshment.

This stuff tastes really pure. It is clean and heady and provides a good kick to the head and body without any hints of nausea. To be honest, I overdid it a bit. Five tablespoons of squeezed Kava actually kept me up until pretty late at night. I got a bit creative and started working on some stuff that I had planned for the following day. If you are writing, working on projects, or doing other kinds of productive activities, this might be a good Kava to consider. Also, I think it would fit a Kava party quite nicely.

This Kava squeezes through your muscles quite nicely. I did some jogging for the first time in a couple years yesterday (I couldn’t jog in Ethiopia, because the children would throw stones at me – I know, weird) and the soreness dissipated after my third shell of Borogu. The level of relaxation is reflected in the level of mouth numbness that it brings on.  

To summarize, Borogu is a heady and productivity/socializing-oriented Kava with a pretty heavy body effect. The new milling approach makes for an interesting squeezing session which you should be aware of when you make this stuff. No need to lose precious Kava to dirty countertop surfaces!

- Kavasseur

Paradise Kava - Instant Borogu Cream of Vanuatu

This is an excellent instant Kava that ranks up there with the best of them. It's main difference from other instants is a highly cerebral effect, less of a body buzz, and more bang for your buck. Watch my video review here:

Coming up next, a review of Paradise Kava's Borogu dried root Kava!

Never Fear! New Reviews Coming Soon!

Fellow Kavasseurs,

I know. It has been ages. I have been working hard on a poverty alleviation program in southern Ethiopia for the past two years and can really own squeeze (not literally, as in kava root) reviews when I get to the states and get samples.

I am moving to Burundi soon and should hopefully have postal access. I have already set up a planned tasting and reviewing of all Paradise Kava's new items.

So stay tuned! And Stay krunked!

Tune in, turn on, krunk out,

Douglas

Paradise Kava's Fijian Sunset Kaduvu (2014)

Paradise Kava's newest batch of Fijian Kava has arrived. It is a low-cost, daily kava that is powerful enough to satisfy yet mellow enough not to slide into the next day. With Kavas from Vanuatu becoming exceedingly expensive and difficult to obtain, Fijian and Tongan varieties are becoming more affordable and available. This Kava should not be seen as a compromise, it should simply be seen as a good value. 

This video review tells the story of this awesome Kava. A stronger-than-normal Fiji that bowls the mind and body over. This Kava will satisfy you for a very low price and give you the Kava relief you are looking for on a daily basis. Enjoy..

Taste - 9/10

Mind - 10/10

Body - 9/10

Overall: 9.35/10

Paradise Kava's Vanuatu Blend No. 7 - Video Review

The Koniak Avalanche

Koniak sounds like something wintry: Klondike, frosty, Santa Claus, chilly, balaclava, icy, arctic, solid icebergs not at the precipice of collapse, polar bears on floating frosty islands. And, in fact, it suites the occasion quite magically. On a cold Ethiopian dusk, I finally broke open my bag of Koniak to a nice earthy smell – quite expecting peppermint but settling for the smell of roots blended with nitrogenous soil – that wasn’t at all off-setting (certainly not as off-setting as the wave of pleasure that melted like a cap of ice over my brain moments later). I had been warned on the Kava Forums to not make big plans for the next day. Alas, that wasn’t possible – I had to wake up at dawn and drive down a perilous road to a farm in the highlands to check on the progress of a sweet potato project. But as I am writing this in a Koniak-induced buzz and quite enjoying the twinkling starlight of the southern hemisphere, my plans for tomorrow seem as far-off as the disappearing polar ice caps.

Now, the Kava. It is divine. It is powerful. It is absolutely, positively – nay, dangerously – overpowering. It is definitely one of the most potent Kavas I have had and could bowl over a newbie like an avalanche. In fact, it did. One of my co-workers dipped in and was soon pondering the real meaning of words. No man, I mean the real meaning of words. Words like: fiddlesticks, diphthong, wombat, mollycoddle, bluesocks, grown-up. We were absolutely pealing with laughter – pealing like ice from the top of a sloping lake during the Spring. We were absolutely and thoroughly stoned. We reminisced on old surfing stories from California and islands faraway. All from the crown of the world in the Ethiopian highlands.

Now, I can say that the effects of this Kava are incredibly immediate. The minute it has gone down the hatch there is the imminent sense of senselessness. Muscle aches? Gone. Wretched knots in your back or limbs? Gone. Sense of time? Devastated. On that last note, I really mean it. I started throwing this Kava down the hatch at 7 P.M – throwing down another shell every ten minutes for another hour or so – and at 11 P.M was still wide-awake and pondering really funny, fluffy things. Things like snowflakes and snow angels. It has power and endurance. I warned you.

Surprisingly, this Kava has a wonderfully clean and milky taste. It has undertones of a nuttiness – maybe a hint of cashew or walnut. The flavor melts into the numbness quite seamlessly. One minute you are enjoying the flavor (yes, I have said before that I enjoy the flavor or Kava) and the next minute you are – again – sensing senselessness. It tastes like a Fijian or Tongan blend but hits like something from Papua New Guinea combined with something from the Solomon Islands. So either Judd has a lab somewhere where he is baking up new varieties of Kava or he has truly stumbled upon some magical village in the south Pacific and made really good friends. I’d anticipate the latter.

This Kava is highly recommended. Definitely one of the best I have ever had. Certainly one of the most powerful. 

Flavor 9.7/10

Effects (Mind) - 9.8/10

Effects (Body) - 9.9/10

Strength - Strong, Very Strong

Bula Kava House's Koniak - 9.8/10