I was driving home from a friends house after having a Kava Party. We drank probably about four shells of Fiji Kava each. We were melting into the couch, laughing like crazy, and watching Lost on the television (if you are a Lost fan and remember 3/23/2010, than you know how awesome that was). After watching Lost I got into my car to drive home. A guy pulled a u-turn at the stop sign in front of me and I kind of inched through it. Next thing you know, I was being pulled over with lights and sirens blaring behind me. But le Kavasseur didn't worry, because he was krunked and just rolling through the night anyway. "Good evening officer, I really appreciate your service to society!" Le Kavasseur abides.
This Kava is pretty damn tasty. I'm not going to rave about it and create a shrine to it, but it is beyond a "good" in terms of taste. In some ways, it has a Tongan Kava creaminess to it, but in other ways it retains a Vanuatu spiciness. From what I recollect, Kava came later to Fiji than to other islands, yet strangely holds more prominence in Fiji than many other islands. In that sense, it has a nice balance to it that I haven't tasted in other Kavas. Again, it's closer to Tongan than to Vanuatu, but has a little bit of its own character. It has a milkier color than most Kavas, but is slightly darker than Tongan Kava and lighter than Wow! It has more spiciness than Tongan Kava. Tastes closer to Black Sand than to Tongan. In that sense, it is fantastic tasting and will fill a nice niche in my Kava cupboard. This Kava also seems to avoid whatever part of the stomach Kava has a negative impact on. Usually I get a bit of a stomach ache off of two shells of strong stuff, but this Fijian Kava didn't even make me feel off after four shells. Pretty awesome.
Now, for the effects. Well, it probably does more of the de-stressing than any other Kava. You don't really get "high" in the way that you would if you drank Black Sand or Wow!, but you sure do feel nice and de-stressed. The cop knocking on my window didn't bother me at all. It totally relaxes you. If you are going for what most natural medicine shoppers go for in Kava, than you have found the right Kava. If you are trying to get super Krunked and numbed from the inside out, than you'll probably want to skip it. I'm not crazy about it, but I'll definitely keep it around for other Tuesday nights. I wasn't expecting Fijian Kava to floor me, so I don't feel at all conned. Good flavor, nice medicinal effect, but not as powerful as other Kavas I've had.
I would definitely recommend it to fans of Tongan Kava or other lighter Kavas.
Flavor - 7.5/10
Effect - 7/10
Nakamal At Home "Fijian Kava" - 7.2 shells out of 10
-Le Kavasseur
Vince Labot writes that Fiji strains in general have lots of methysticin. Some people say that this is psychoactively inert, but it does work as an anti-seizure compound. Anti-seizure drugs are usually sold off-market as mood stabilizers.
ReplyDeleteThe nausea is caused by dihydromethstysticin and dihydrokavain are very potent and produce nausea and long-term drowsiness. These two kavalactones are found in high concentrations in the PNG strains Nakamal@Home sells (as well in in Vanuatu Tudei kavas), but are probably fairly low in the Fiji strains.
The "most desirable" kavalactone profile is one higher in kavain - that's because kavain will make you bula'd in minutes, if not seconds. DHM and DHK take longer, and last longer, but are generally not conducive to socialization.
Kava may be one species (especially since P. Wachimanii is now P. Methysticum var Wachimanni), but it actually refers to several elixirs with various effects and various potencies.
The above comment is right on. After talking to a kava bartender who seemed to know his stuff, I stay away from the PNG kavas, and "Isa" which is a rebranded wild kava. I find it surprising that, with all the recent controversy, some vendors are still selling questionable varieties that may be potent, but may not be quite safe.
ReplyDeletei'll be trying this one soon.
ReplyDeleteNakamal's Fiji has a clean and narrow spectrum of effect. A perfect for a weeknight or in combo with a more hypnotic variety
ReplyDeleteI like this one a lot so far, I'm not a big fan of super strong kava because it makes me too tired the next day. Very good kava!
ReplyDelete