The War on Kava, Part 2

There has been much concern, gossip, and despair in the Kava world as of late. Some of our favorite Kavas have suddenly become unavailable, and when many of us thought we were several clicks away from a fresh bag of Solomon Kava we found, to our dismay, that it was no longer available. Rumors have swirled around about an impending shut down of Kava and Kava vendors in crisis.

So I've put on my journalist hat and done some investigating, and what I've found is not too reassuring.

Sources (who I will give the pseudonym of "Philip") have informed me of seized containers of Kava that are (as of right now) frozen in ports under the order of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Apparently, this is not unusual in and of itself, but the length of time which those containers have been seized is unusual. Kava shipped by air from two different countries has been seized and held in a storage facility awaiting inspection, and has essentially been left to sit at these facilities at the cost of the Kava vendor. In other words, the longer that Kava is sitting there the lower the profit margins for the vendor. Philip told me that this is just another way for the FDA to attack Kava. Rather than making Kava illegal, they are trying to make it unprofitable.

It seems that some of those "anti-energy" drinks are part of the problem. We have even discussed them here - Take 2 For Sleep, Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda, etc. - and all of them contain Kava extract. Kava in concoctions other than Kava root powder or instant Kava has been known to be harmful and were the reason for Kava's initial ban in Europe. Philip explained to me that the FDA has Kava vendors sign an agreement that they will not create such concoctions from their imported Kava or sell Kava to companies that do make such concoctions. The fact that these kinds of concoctions are flooding the market has upped the FDAs game. Because of this renewed effort to control sources of Kava, normal everyday Kava has become targeted.

So as those containers of Kava sit at a port in Los Angeles, Philip is given no indication of whether his Kava is going to get cleared or not, and racks up expenses for the contained Kava. Left with two choices, Philip must decide between a) gambling that the Kava will get cleared and continue to pay a daily fee to the airline or b) refuse the Kava and send it back to the country it was grown in.

To quote Philip: "the FDA is very powerful and they don't have to ban something per se to stop the importation of it. All they have to do is discourage businesspeople from wanting to import it and the same effect occurs."

Not a good sign at all. 

New Kavasseur Podcast!

Just uploaded a new Kavasseur podcast to blip.tv. It is a taste off between Hawaiian Kava Center's Nene and Mo'i Kavas. I also do a little bit of a Kava making demonstration. Enjoy it.

Kavasseur Podcast

I have recorded a podcast with C. Boyce, linked to the Kavasseur podcast on You Tube, but also downloadable as an iTunes podcase. The following is 1/3 of the podcast, please go to You Tube to listen to the other two-thirds:

Fire Island - The Best Instant Kava of All

Even though Kava King, Quick Kava, and Shaman Kava are all fine choices, only one instant Kava can hold the top position in the instant Kava world: Nakamal at Home's Fire Island.

There is something so original about Fire Island Kava. Whenever I drink it, I always think to myself that this is the baseline - this is what Kava is supposed to taste like. And just for the record, this essentially is what Kava looks and tastes like in the South Pacific. A greenish hue, a more chlorophyllic taste, and a kind of wrap-around numbing to the mouth all pull together to give Fire Island its unique taste. While Quick Kava and Shaman Kava might remind you more of a typical Vanuatu dried-root brew, this stuff puts you right in the Nakamal and lets you experience island Kava the way it should be.

Kaiden Fox wrote a review not too long ago about Fire Island Kava, celebrating its instant and relatively short-lived effects. I concur. And like Kaiden, I find such effects to be overwhelmingly agreeable. If you have been brewing your Kava from dried root, you will be surprised at how different Fire Island tastes and feels. It is essentially captured as fresh Kava juice, dehydrated, and frozen in time until you add water and swirl it around. The last time this stuff touched water, it was in Vanuatu. I think that's pretty damn cool.

The effects are instant. When you drink this stuff down - and it goes down quick - it goes straight to your nervous system and muscles. It is a wave of relaxation. Another pleasant thing about Fire Island is that it doesn't seem to accumulate in your system the way dried root grogs do. You can drink this stuff throughout the night and have several little peaks that don't coalesce into any kind of nauseous overload. And that is definitely a good thing.

For Kaiden's original (and better) review, click here.

Taste - 9.5/10
Effect (Mind) - 8.5/10
Effect (Body) - 8.5/10
Strength - Intermediate-Strong

Nakamal at Home's Fire Island Kava - 8.8/10

A Trip Back to Chief's Jungle

Since I first reviewed Chief's Jungle last March I have warmed up a bit to the taste. Sure, it isn't the best tasting Kava out there. But it at least presents something of an alternative to the plentiful thick, creamy, peppery Kavas that are all over the market. Other than Niugini (not surprisingly), Chief's Jungle has a stand-alone flavor that is even - dare I say - somewhat refreshing. If you go back to my original review, I think I actually commented that this Kava tasted like "hell." Well, that was partially due to the fact that I was using Nakamal at Home's recipe - 1 cup of Kava to 3 cups of water (or was it 2 cups of water?). Anyhow, tonight I brewed 2 cups of this with 3 tablespoons of Chief's Jungle. The result was a much thinner, sweeter, and mildly piney Kava with a nice, fresh-mountain-air hued aftertaste.

In preparing this Kava, note the wonderful frothiness that bubbles to the surface. I'd be interested to know why this happens and what it means. I've heard from different sources that froth is a sign of freshness or potency - I can't figure out which one. I have drunk a lot of Wow!, and though it is potent it typically doesn't have the froth. My hypothesis is that it is somehow connected to the degree of fineness that the Kava is ground to. Chief's Jungle is twiggy, airy stuff and I feel like when I'm squeezing it air bubbles are bursting to the surface. Along with possibly bringing the froth, the grind of this Kava seems to retain some of the earthy, planty, or "grassy" flavors that are so typical of this blend.

The fact remains that this stuff will still absolutely obliterate you if not consumed in moderation. I tried a batch a few months ago that was pretty weak, but this batch (packaged on 12/14/10) is stunningly strong. Perhaps even a bit stronger than the very first batch I tried. After three shells, I have a pleasant, high-buzzing krunkness dominating my mind and body. In fact, the feeling is spreading throughout my body and growing stronger as I write this. Earlier today, my team was knocked out of playoff potential (San Diego Chargers) and I was quite unhappy about that, but after a few shells of this I feel like saying - for the [being on Kava] record - "better luck next time." My lips are buzzing and my eyes are heavy, my legs are mostly immobile, my mind at ease, and music is sounding quite nice. I can say I am doing quite better than I was about one hour ago, and I am definitely happy that I made the choice to brew up this Kava tonight. As I stated before, this Kava has much more of a "cannabis" feeling to it, whatever that means. It lifts your mind up and makes you feel high, rather than giving you the sinking, heavy, and slow feeling. Many have told me that Chief's knock them out, but this must be because they are making it to strong or drinking a lot at once. At any rate, if that is the feeling they are going for then more power to them. Kava Gods know that sometimes I'm looking for that vibe too.

Bottom line: Reconsidering the taste and feeling the potency again, I am convinced that this is still one of the best Kavas out there.

Same score/ranking as given in March, 2010.

Kava by Rex - Tongan Pride

One of the most wonderful things about Kava is its incredible diversity. You get acquainted with a certain feeling from Kava and then suddenly find yourself face to face with something like you've never had before. A non-Kavasseur would never be able to tell the difference between a Vanuatu Kava from Tanna Island or a Fijian Kava. But a Kavasseur can tell the difference between Fijian Kava and a Tongan Kava, a Kava from Tanna Island or one from Pentecost Island. There is so much variety, and so much distinctiveness. One of my favorite weekday Kavas is Nakamal at Home's Tongan Kava, so I've learned to associate Tongan Kavas with a mellow, heavy-eye, muscle-relaxing feeling. Kava by Rex offers something that is almost the opposite of that.

Tongan Pride has a very strong taste, but one that is more sweet and creamy than piney and peppery. It is heavy, thick, and has quite a resilient sugary aftertaste. It is not the kind of "strong flavor" that you would find in a piney PNG Kava or a peppery Vanuatuan Kava. It tastes more like wood-flavored ice cream with a splash of a cashew flavor. I wouldn't call it too mild or easy to drink, but it is definitely not an unpleasant taste. After you down a shell you might feel the urge to shiver a bit, but not in a way that is entirely unlikeable. It has an interesting and unexpected flavor, but not one that I think I'll be craving too much.

The mental effect of this Kava is quite strange. It makes you really want to be around people. For anyone who feels awkward or uncomfortable in social situations, this is the perfect Kava for you. You might even begin calling friends that you've been meaning to call. Of course, if you drinking this Kava with someone else you will feel like talking, talking, and talking. It calms the nerves and makes you feel peppy. In fact, after about three shells I actually had a huge burst of energy and felt like getting up and moving around. Not exactly the kind of feeling most people, including me, associate with Kava.

One thing that surprised me about this Kava was that the effect all seemed to be mental. I didn't get any kind of significant body buzz beyond just a little initial warmth. The soreness I had in my legs from 12 miles of walking the day before was definitely gone, but I wasn't able to enjoy the full-body tingling and fuzziness that I get from other Kavas.

This Kava is a bit hard to rank, because it is so all-together different from other Kavas. How does one  compare the mental effects of an uppity Kava with those of a Kava that is more mild, sedative, and relaxing? This Kava would be brilliant for anyone who needed to feel comfortable speaking in front of public or before going to a high-nerve work party. But if you've just gotten home and want to sink into the couch, this isn't going to be your ideal Kava. I like it, but it doesn't really fit the bill. Thankfully, Kava by Rex carries a lot of other Kavas that do.

In sum: A great party Kava.

Taste - 8/10
Effect (Mind) - 8/10
Effect (Body) - 7/10
Strength - Medium

Kava by Rex's Tongan Pride - 7.6/10

Back To My Roots - "Wow!" Kava Revisited/30,000 Hit Anniversary Celebration

***About 10 minutes after finishing this review, I started to get an actual sense of "buzzing" in my head. I closed my eyes and felt my whole body sink into the couch. The world didn't seem to spin so much as sink, like a big sponge into a sea of warm water. My roommate asked me to help bring in groceries and I had a semi-hallucinogenic experience of dragging oars through water as I carried the bags through the house. Currently, I am feeling slightly sick and my hands are clammy, but I am also being washed over with waves of warm happiness. Yup, this is still the same stuff. I won't be getting into any cars anytime tonight. I'm just going to bake a pizza and laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

A long time ago (say, in February of 2009) I made the spontaneous decision to start a blog that reviewed Kava. I more or less just started it because I was looking for something exactly like it - and couldn't find it. Buying Kava shouldn't be stressful, so that's why I decided to try every Kava available and review it on one easy-to-navigate website. Even I consult my own website when making purchasing decisions. Well, today the website hit the 30,000 hit mark. In honor of this quite arbitrary anniversary, I have decided to mix up some Wow! Kava and revisit it a year later. These revisits are going to roll out on a semi-regular basis, as my Kava drinking has become more nuanced and my review strategies have changed. So consider this the first series of re-reviews that will roll out along with new reviews.

I can't remember how I originally ranked Wow! Kava, but I remember it being quite high. I also vividly remember the night that I first tried it - I became so krunked that I literally couldn't coordinate my hands on my keyboard. It was one of the only times I have ever downed enough Kava to feel sick. I got into a friends car to go out to dinner and had to say "woah man, turn around." Needless to say, I sobered up and wrote my review over a bowl the next day. In retrospect, I do remember using that 2:1 ratio that I look back on now as being preposterous

I must say that, though I appreciated the flavor of Wow! Kava the first time around, I didn't appreciate it enough. Compared to so many other Kavas, this stuff just melts in your mouth. It tastes as light and smooth as Malekula Magic but with an added sweetness to it. It has this bright, powerful white hue to it that looks more like a White Chocolate Mocha than a shell of freshly brewed Kava. Not much pepper or any other kind of spicy notes to this brew. It has more of a cashewy, thick, creamy flavor that makes you want to drink more. A truly one-of-a-kind Nakamal at Home Kava that keeps them at the very top of the Kava game. Let's all raise our shells to Nakamal at Home and say, Bula!

As for the effects, they still kick my ass. Now that I have a mental/body addition to my ranking, I can explore both of those angles. This Kava is very stimulating, with more of a calming *high* that perks you up a bit. On an empty stomach, I can reasonably say that Wow! has one of the most desirable feelings you can find in Kava. Significantly less "stony" than Solomon (which to me has become a gold standard for hypnotic, mind expanding Kavas) but not as driving and over-the-top as Chief's Jungle. The first time I drank this stuff I remember sitting on the couch and getting clammy hands and actually sweating a little bit. That was, of course, on the 2:1 mix. Tonight I am sitting quite relaxed, typing this out after three shells and enjoying some music. However, my mind feels quite washed over, cleansed, and sharp. I am able to focus my thoughts and, even after a day of jumping from one task to the other, just think about how much I love this Kava. How could you argue with that? I think I'll have another shell.

Being an every-other-day jogger, I often get a little soreness in my legs. I especially had it earlier today. Now, not so much. This Kava works for a great body high. I do have to say, however, that it is not nearly as potent in that respect as I remember. The first time I drank this stuff, I could barely stand up after drinking it. There is a strong possibility that it is getting a bit stale. But now that I've had another shell (the one I said I was going to drink in the last paragraph) I am beginning to float a little bit and lose some control over my limbs. Yup, there it is. Hahaha. Wow!!

Taste - 10/10
Effect (Mind) - 9.75/10
Effect (Body) - 9.5/10
Strength - Strong-Very Strong

Nakamal at Home's Wow! Kava - 9.75/10