Drinking Kava
The name kava is derived from words
throughout the Pacific which mean bitter, sour, potent and acrid. With that in mind, the flavour, somewhat earthy and peppery, may not be to everyone’s liking and may be an acquired taste. It is also advised to consume kava on an empty stomach as it may bring on nausea on a full stomach. You should never combine kava with alcohol.
Types of Kava
There are two types of kava grown in Vanuatu, piper methysticum (noble and tudei kava) and piper wichmannii (ancestor of all kava). Noble kava takes 5 years to mature and the composition of the kavalactones – the active ingredients - are more favourable than that of the tudei kava, which can produce a kava hangover. There are some concerns that tudei varieties of kava may contain high concentrations of harmful compounds known as flavokavains which are not present in concerning amounts in noble kava. Tudei kava is quicker to grow, with plants reaching maturity within a year.
History
Over 3000 years ago the Lapita people, believed to be the ancestors of the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian people, colonised the Pacific.It was these competent seafarers from either Taiwan or the Philippines, who spread kava throughout the Pacific.They used kava ‘as a sedative, muscle relaxant, diuretic, and as a remedy for nervousness and insomnia’. Historians suggest that although the Lapita people used kava medicinally, the development of kava as a culturally significant plant did not extend from the Lapita culture and that it was more likely that the people of the eastern Lapita influence in the Pacific established Kava in their rituals and traditions. People from places such as; Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Kava- What is it and should you try it? - By Jemma Senico
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