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Where to Buy Kava Tea

As kava has become a commodity on the global market, a proliferation of stores both online and physical have popped up offering kava in forms ranging from the whole root to kava paste to readymade packets of kava tea. However, just like with any kava product, figuring out where to buy kava tea to get the most bang for your buck isn’t always a clear cut exercise. We decided to examine some of the basics of purchasing and preparing kava tea, to give anyone who’s interesting in finding where to buy kava tea the tools to find a high quality, enjoyable, and potent product.

Of course, the obvious first step in ascertaining where to buy kava tea is finding a vendor that carries it. Due to kava’s growing popularity as a relaxing and socially stimulating beverage, many different health food companies and stores are beginning to sell kava tea as part of their lineup of herbal teas. Unfortunately, as with any market with multiple suppliers, not all kava tea brands are created equal. When you’re looking for where to get kava tea, it’s better to avoid the herbal sections of big box stores and health food stores: the quality of their kava will likely not be as high quality as a product purchased from a vendor who specializes in kava. To make the best kava tea, you’ll want to obtain kava root that is fresh and harvested from the lateral roots of plants that are least four years old, as older plants produce a higher amount of kavalactones. In general, vendors who specialize in kava will provide you with a better quality product that meets the standards above; they have to, because their business depends on selling customers kava that is potent and satisfying.

A quality source is essential when you’re looking for a good place to buy kava tea, not just to ensure yourself a satisfying experience but also for safety reasons. In the past, unscrupulous vendors looking to cash in on the kava craze sold a few people kava that contained stems, leaves and bark peelings— parts of the plant containing toxic alkaloids that landed several people in the hospital with liver damage. You definitely don’t want to be buying tea bags that contain stems or leaves! Whether you purchase kava tea in a bag or buy the ground root in bulk, you should always make sure to buy only from vendors who specifically state that they use only the kava plant’s lateral roots in their preparations. If you’re not sure about a vendor, you can also consult an independent review website to see what other customers have said about their products.

The second half of enjoying really good kava tea lies in how you prepare it. Properly prepared, kava tea can deliver all the same benefits as a cold kava infusion, including improved mood, reduced anxiety and stress, calming effects, and restful sleep. Plus you get the added comfort of relaxing with a warm beverage which you can easily flavor with honey, cinnamon, and other warming ingredients if you so desire. When it comes to making a potent and delicious tea, many people also prefer the ground root to a prepared tea bag because it’s easier to determine the freshness of the root before steeping. Furthermore, you may get better results by making a tea from the ground root because the loose material can move more freely in water, allowing for the maximum leaching of active kavalactones.

Any kava tea of good quality should have the same soothing properties as a regular cold kava infusion, and should be treated with the same respect for its potency. Make sure not to drive or do anything requiring reflexes after drinking kava tea, especially when you’re trying it for the first time. Both the cold brew and the hot tea will generally contain a similar percentage of kavalactones and should be similarly potent; in fact, the traditional cold kava infusion could even be considered a type of kava ice tea! The main advantage of hot kava tea over a cold brew is its convenience: the hot tea takes maybe a half hour to 45 minutes to steep, compared to several hours for a cold extraction.

For the curious, here’s a sample kava kava tea recipe you can use to make kava tea from scratch ingredients: using a ratio of 1 teaspoon ground kava root to 1 cup milk or water, heat the liquid until it’s hot but not boiling. (To preserve the root’s active compounds, most recipes recommend you not heat it above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, with 120 degrees considered an ideal temperature.) Pour the hot liquid over the loose ground kava root and steep the mixture for about 45 minutes, then strain the liquid into a different mug, using a coffee filter to catch the kava dregs. Drink up and enjoy the kava tea’s relaxing, anxiolytic and sleep-promoting properties. Perhaps you and some friends could get together for a kava tea party of an evening!

84 Kavalactone Paste

Where does the 84 in 84 kavalactone paste come from, you ask? Simple: the 84 tells you you’re getting one of the most potent and highly concentrated kavalactone pastes available, one that is approximately 84% active kavalactones by weight. 84 kavalactone paste is a highly versatile and stable way to enjoy kava which can be eaten on its own or combined with a cold kava brew or tea to savor its enhanced effects. The best 84 kavalactone paste is made using a supercritical CO2 extraction method that leaves behind no acetone or other poisonous residues, only a golden kava paste with effects of unusual duration and potency.

84 kavalactone paste is a premium product that requires a lot of intensive factory processing and a large amount of raw starting material to produce: on average, 100 kilograms of finished 84 kavalactone paste takes more than a ton of raw kava root to produce! Due to the need for specialized equipment and a large amount of starting material in its preparation, an ounce of 84 kavalactone paste will definitely cost you more than the same amount of whole or powdered root. However, what you get for the higher price is a concentrated preparation of kava that is like no other in terms of potency, ease of use, and versatility. Furthermore, because it’s so concentrated, a one-ounce supply of 84 kavalactone paste will last you a lot longer than a much larger amount of dried powder or whole root: one pea-sized serving of 84 kavalactone paste on its own is enough to generate mild psychoactivity, including calming and mood-elevating effects. If one dollop doesn’t work for you, you can try two or three— just be sure not to exceed the FDA’s approved limit of five pea-sized servings in 24 hours.

A concentrated paste basically has a higher amount of the kava root’s active compounds, so you can expect the general effects of 84 kavalactone paste to align with those gained from a kava tea or brew: users of the 84 kavalactone paste report feeling a sense of calm and well-being pervade them, along with a notable physical relaxation that makes this concentrated kava paste a great stress reliever. Some people who’ve tried kavalactone paste also assert that it causes more pronounced physical relaxation for them compared to a brew or other infusion. A concentrated 84 kavalactone paste or kava brew will each be stronger in their effects than kava capsules, which usually have only 60 to 150 milligrams of kavalactones and are mostly used as a sleep aid.

You can try out 84 kavalactone paste in a variety of ways, the easiest being to simply eat a pea-sized dollop of the paste on its own. However, if you decide you don’t care for the taste (which can be strong), you can also choose to encapsulate the kavalactone paste using a capsule machine, or dissolve the concentrated paste in water or milk and add ingredients like honey or chocolate to improve the flavor. For the adventurous or seasoned “kavasseur”, a touch of 84 kavalactone paste may be used to spike a kava beverage made from the powdered root or a drink mix, in order to enhance the drink’s relaxing and euphoric effects. Adding a dollop of kavalactone paste to any kava drink will shorten the time between ingestion and the onset of the drink’s effects, as well as deepen sensations of mellowness and physical relaxation. Some people also take 84 kavalactone paste as a kind of booster dose, eating a dollop or so of the concentrated paste a few hours after drinking a kava brew in order to prolong its psychoactive effects.

Used in moderation, we believe that 84 kavalactone paste can be a safe and versatile way to enjoy kava either for the first time or as a returning kavasseur. Just remember never to combine kava in any form with alcohol or other drugs that have a depressant effect on the central nervous system, in order to prevent harmful interactions. Like any good kava preparation, 84 kavalactone paste has the power to relax you in social situations, promote calm, and may even induce mild euphoria, all without hampering your speech or thoughts. So give this beautiful golden paste a try; we bet you’ll be happy with the results.

Tension Relief

The demands of our Western productivity-driven culture tend to generate a lamentably high level of tension in many people due to stressors such as financial obligations, inadequate sleep, hectic schedules, and unfulfilling work. Challenges such as health problems, family or marital issues, and difficult life transitions can pile on top of those everyday stressors, making the need for a safe and effective method of tension relief absolutely essential. Along with regular exercise and a diet that emphasizes a healthy balance of vitamins and minerals, kava kava and other herbal remedies can be highly efficacious for tension relief without heavily sedating you or interfering with your alertness the next day.

Regrettably often in the Western world, people looking to relieve tension and stress in their everyday lives turn to commercially available yet powerful drugs that come with a long list of side effects and the potential to become addictive over time. The most common drug people turn to for tension relief is alcohol: in the short term, alcohol is a reliable sedative with some evidence now emerging that it temporarily reduces anxiety by altering brain chemistry. The considerable downside to using alcohol to relieve tension and anxiety is that regular doses of alcohol cause the body to build up a resistance to its effects, requiring a person to drink more to feel the same sense of relief. This is a dangerously habit-forming proposition. Besides being potentially addictive, overuse of alcohol carries with it a high risk of causing liver, organ and nerve damage.

Prescription drugs for insomnia and tension relief aren’t much better. Despite many people’s perception of their relative safety, prescription sleep and anxiety drugs often come with surprisingly harsh side effects and medical risks. According to their own promotional literature, many prescription sleep aids can potentially cause side effects including headache, blurred vision, and next day drowsiness, and carry a risk of becoming habit-forming. Additionally, some prescription tension aids put their users at risk of seizure, neuromuscular disorders, and even psychosis! Given this laundry list of things that can go wrong when you take a prescription drug for tension relief, what are people who want to lighten the burden of stress in their lives supposed to do?

One answer can be found in the humble roots of the kava plant, a member of the pepper family that has proven itself a safe and effective natural route to tension relief. Since its emergence into the global herbal market in modern times, kava has been gaining a reputation as one of the safest and most effective plants to treat tension and stress relief and promote restful sleep. Kava seems to be active along a pathway in the brain’s amygdala, the region responsible for regulating feelings of stress, anxiety and fear; in fact, studies of kava suggest that the plant’s active constituents work in much the same way as the prescription anti-depressant Prozac! An important difference is that kava won’t dull your natural emotional range and seems to have little to no potential to be habit-forming.

The traditional way to take kava is to make a cold infusion of the root in water or a fatty liquid like coconut milk. However, these days you can also buy powdered kava root from health food stores, either in tea bags— sometimes additionally flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, or other tasty and warming ingredients— or in capsules that contain a standardized percentage of kavalactones. Whatever the method of ingestion, most people will start to feel kava’s effects within a half hour to an hour: most common is a feeling of mellowness and tranquility that pervades the body and mind, leading to a deep and restful sleep after a person goes to bed. Kava also has beneficial effects on emotions: it can uplift mood and greatly reduce any anxiety or worries you might have while leaving your mind and senses relatively clear and alert. One of the things many users like best about kava is that you can really feel it working: when good kava starts to come on, it won’t leave you wondering if what you’re experiencing is just a placebo! However, despite its potency, kava properly prepared from only lateral roots has been clinically shown to be gentle on the liver. Furthermore, kava drinkers don’t seem to build up a resistance to kava over time, which minimizes its potential for addiction.

Tension can be an outward manifestation of the way your body responds to external stimuli, especially stressful and challenging situations; many times, people who carry a high tension load have not been taught how to cope with life’s challenges in a healthy way. Trying out kava for natural tension relief is one of several things ordinary people can do to change the equation of how they respond to stress. Some other healthy ways of coping include regular meditation, physical exercise (especially practices that emphasize mindfulness such as yoga), and maintaining a healthy diet. Reducing consumption of alcohol, refined sugar and caffeine can be one simple way to ensure better sleep at night, while getting enough of vitamins B and C, and minerals like calcium, can ensure healthier brain function especially in times of stress. Although a certain amount of tension and stress is an unavoidable part of life, natural routes to tension relief like kava can help you overcome whatever life throws at you in a safe and effective manner.

Kava Plant for Sale

At some point or other, horticulturalist kavasseurs will often start looking for a kava plant for sale that they can raise on their own. Though a lot of people may not realize it, in addition to prepared kava products and dried roots, many kava vendors offer live kava plants for sale to customers. Interested gardeners can also buy root cuttings from a mature plant which they can use to grow their own kava seedling. Humans have grown and propagated kava for centuries using mostly the root stock; the flowering parts of the plant produce no kava seeds and are considered sterile. Although it takes root-grown kava about three to five years to mature enough so its roots can be harvested, many kavasseurs feel the end product is worth the trouble of growing and harvesting kava yourself. After all, kava root is never fresher than when it’s just been harvested from a living plant.

Let’s say you’ve found a kava plant for sale and had it shipped to your home. Now what? Like many tropical plants, kava grows best when it gets lots of sun, lots of water, and a decent amount of humidity. An ideal temperature range for kava is between 68 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit: if you live in a subtropical region or state, such as Florida, South Texas or Hawaii, you can grow kava outside virtually year-round. You can also grow kava outside in more northern climes, but only during the summer; as a rough guide, take your kava plant inside or move it to a greenhouse when the temperature drops to 55 degrees Fahrenheit or below for three consecutive nights.

To simulate the moist conditions of its native tropical habitat, you should water your kava plant regularly. Kava growers recommend you pot your plant in loose soil—a ratio of about 50% soil and 50% perlite is best— to facilitate water drainage and prevent root rot from over-watering (or from heavy rain if you’ve planted it outside). Since kava plants like moderate humidity, be sure to mist your kava’s leaves with a spray bottle if you’re keeping the plant in a non-humid environment such as indoors. Be sure not to leave your kava plant near an air-conditioning vent, as the circulating air will dry out the plant and make it harder for it to thrive and grow. Finally, although kava plants like sun, they grow best in partial shade: keeping your plant near a window indoors may provide the best light conditions for its optimal growth.

Kava also rapidly depletes nutrients in its soil and thus requires a rich fertilizer. Luckily, beyond that kava isn’t too picky about its fertilizers: although you can use a natural humus or animal fertilizer for the all-natural route, kava plants will grow equally well when fed with a commercial NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) fertilizer such as Miracle Gro, ideally with an elements ratio of 14-14-14. Just be sure to go with the manufacturer’s lowest recommended dose when your plant is young, to avoid burning its roots; as the kava plant matures, you can increase its dose of fertilizer. Finally, don’t forget to take acidity into account: kava plants thrive in slightly acidic soil with a pH of between 5.5 to 6.5, which mimics conditions present in jungle soil. Most commercial fertilizers tend to work well both for creating this level of acidity and keeping your kava plant well-nourished. Replenish your plant’s fertilizer about once a month.

Though kava kava makes a nice ornamental plant due to its lush growth and heart-shaped leaves, you probably want to buy kava plant cuttings or rootstock mainly to harvest the roots to make a brew. So how do you know when your kava plant is mature enough to be used? Most guidelines for kava maturity recommend waiting at least three years for your kava plant to mature before harvesting its roots, to avoid killing the plant. Also, as kava plants age the percentage of active kavalactones in their roots increases, so you may want to wait even longer than the minimum to increase the potency of your harvest. The best commercial operations wait until their kava plants are four to five years old before harvesting the kava for sale. As your kava plant matures, it will also get big, which is why you’ll want to repot it several times to give it room to grow and allow its rootstock to expand. Remember, the more roots your kava plant puts out, the more you’ll be able to harvest and brew from it. Kava plants can also grow very tall (up to 15 feet) in the jungle. Unless you want it to take over your living room or greenhouse, we recommend you prune your kava plant periodically to keep it at a manageable size. Pruning won’t affect your plant’s root growth; just make sure to leave your plant with plenty of foliage for photosynthesis.

All right, so you’ve faithfully watered, fertilized, repotted and pruned your kava plant to a healthy maturity. How do you go about harvesting the fruits —or rather roots— of your labors? The good news is that harvesting kava root may be the easiest part of the entire process. Gently pull the mature plant from the soil and wash the dirt off the lower part of the root stock. You can cut off the lateral roots (roots that run along the soil’s surface) and some of the rhizome (underground part of the root) as well, as long as you some root left so your plant can continue to grow. The lateral roots are the most potent part of the kava plant, and they take about three years to regrow. Once you’ve replanted your kava, cut the harvested roots into small pieces and dry or freeze them unless you plan to use them immediately. The result will be an inordinately fresh supply of kava root that you can make into a delectable brew or tea whenever you wish.

Buy Kava Root

As I have discussed elsewhere on the site, figuring out the best place to buy kava root or other kava products can be incredibly confusing. After all, you can purchase kava in a wide variety of forms, from capsules to instant drink mixes to dried root. You can buy kava root from all over the South Pacific islands, from Fiji to Hawaii to Vanuatu. You can buy all different strains of kava, old and traditional strains, and new hybrids that are supposedly more potent but that also be low quality and carry health risks. Since there are so many types of kava available to purchase online and in stores, it follows that the quality of these kava products can vary widely. Hawaiian kava root from one vendor can be extremely high quality, organic and fresh, while kava from another vendor may be low in potency, treated with dangerous chemicals, and several years old by the time it makes it to you. With all of these things to consider, the consumer looking to buy kava kava root online might feel confused and bewildered, unsure about what kava is the best and safest.

Fortunately, if you arm yourself with a little bit of knowledge, it will become much easier to determine if the kava root you are looking at is of high quality. Many people want to buy pure kava root because it is the most traditional form of kava that is available over the internet. Of course, traditionally, kava root is prepared when it is fresh. In many island communities, kava is prepared daily as a ritual, and the root is prepared on the same day as it is harvested. However, at the same time, the age of the kava root makes a big difference in potency. Roots are not mature or ready to consume until around five or more years of growth under the ground. As time goes on, the concentration of kavalactones in the root increases, and the root grows in size and weight as well. Most kava growers will have a few very special kava plants that are at least ten years old, if not older, which they are saving for a very special occasion, such as a wedding!

Traditionally, fresh kava root was prepared by masticating the root until it turned in to a soft pulp. The combination of certain enzymes in saliva and root matter allowed the alkaloids in the kava to leach out in to water to make a tea. Although missionaries who first came to the South Pacific islands were disgusted by this tradition, native peoples continued to chew kava because it was believed that it created a more potent drink, a belief that has actually been supported by scientific research in more recent years!

Now, for the average kava lover interested in buying kava root online, it is almost impossible to find fresh kava root available. Unless you live on a Pacific Island and can travel to a kava farm or start your own kava garden, chances are you will be relying on dried kava root. The downside to this is that the potency is bound to be slightly less than with fresh kava root, but the upside is that you won’t have to worry about the jaw-breaking task of chewing fresh root every day, because most dried kava root comes pre-processed! Generally, when you buy kava root you want to look for kava that is of a noble strain (a strain which has been cultivated traditionally for thousands of years such as Mahakea kava or Palisi kava). Newer hybrid strains may be more potent, but they also have not been researched or backed up by thousands of years of safe use, and it is entirely possible that they contain combinations of kavalactones that may be toxic, so it’s important to be cautious. You also want to make sure that you get kava kava root that has matured for a number of years – at least two, but three or four is even better! You also want to make sure that your kava is prepared from ONLY the root – the leaves and stems can be toxic. And, of course, it’s ideal to purchase organic kava, since that way you won’t get any unpleasant chemical surprises while seeking healing properties from this amazing plant.

Generally, we recommend that people purchase powdered kava root, as it is the easiest form of dried kava to prepare. However, if you are looking for a bit more potency and don’t mind some extra preparation work, you can find whole dried kava root or chipped dried kava root for sale online. Since these products have not been ground in to a fine powder, they lose potency much less quickly, meaning that if you are willing to work with them, the payoff may be worthwhile. Dried whole or chipped kava root should be soaked in cold or lukewarm water for at LEAST 30 minutes, rather than the 5-10 minutes needed for powdered kava root, and once you’ve soaked the whole root you’ll need to spend a good amount of time and energy to extract the alkaloids from the root matter by squeezing. This is definitely a lot more work that using powdered kava root, but if you want to buy kava root that is the most authentic possible, this is the way to go!

No matter what sort of kava root you decide to go with, make sure you make an informed decision with a mind not just to the price, but to the safety and quality of the product at hand. Kava is a wonderful healer, but it can have negative effects if prepared or used improperly. If you follow the guidelines in this article and the rest of the site, though, you’re sure to buy kava kava root that will provide you with just what you need!

Kavalactone Paste

Of the many different forms in which you can take kava, concentrated kavalactone paste is the most high-tech and arguably one of the most efficient ways to get a potent dose of kavalactones. Companies produce kavalactone paste using a modern high-pressure carbon dioxide extraction technique that can be performed at the low temperatures required to preserve kava’s fragile active compounds. The result is a very sticky, molasses-like resinous kavalactone paste with an 80% or more concentration of active compounds. 84 kavalactone paste, with a concentration by weight of 84% kavalactones, is one of the most potent forms of kava on the market.

Unlike whole kava root or powders, high-density kavalactone paste is not soluble in water. Kava is traditionally prepared in its whole root form by chewing the root to break down its starches and then soaking it in water to release kavalactones. While kavalactone paste does this step for you, to get its active effects it must either be eaten straight — not the best option for many people because of its bitter taste — or dissolved in a fatty liquid such as coconut milk. Some people also “spike” their kava drinks with kavalactone paste to give the brew an extra kick and speed up the onset of kava’s effects.

Kavalactone paste excels as a potentiator of traditional kava brews due to its high concentration of kavalactones and additional phytochemical ingredients. The best supercritical carbon dioxide extraction methods obtain the full range of the kava plant’s chemical constituents, not just the kavalactones, resulting in a full-spectrum kava extract that replicates the experience of consuming the fresh roots. (As with all kava products, you should only buy those made from the plant’s roots, never the toxic stems and leaves.) Full-spectrum kavalactone paste will give you an experience similar to what you’d achieve from a traditional brew. Some studies have shown that the additional phytochemicals in the kava plant (or a full-spectrum kava kava paste) may have protective effects when taken as a whole.

Another benefit of choosing kavalactone paste is that you don’t have to take very much to get the same effects as an entire bowl of a potent kava brew. Kavalactone paste concentrates the effects of fresh kava, so a one gram dosage of kavalactone paste is equivalent to about 28 grams of fresh shredded kava root; the best kava kava paste products will have a concentration of about 84-85% active kavalactones by weight. The FDA recommends that a person’s daily dosage of kavalactone paste should not go beyond four pea-sized servings of paste, and most people need to take far less than that for a rewarding experience. One or two pea-sized dollops of kavalactone paste, taken alone or as a booster shot to a kava beverage, are enough to achieve notable empathogenic and euphoric effects. This makes kavalactone paste the way to go for kava consumers who want to stretch their supply and make it last for a longer amount of time.

So how long will kavalactone paste give you benefits like these? In a whole dried root or powdered form, kava can last for years without losing any of its potency if it is stored in an airtight container. Infusions such as mixed kava drinks and water-based decoctions will last from a few weeks to a few months if they’re properly refrigerated. Kavalactone paste will last in a cool, dark place in a sealed container for at least one year without losing any potency, and will only decrease in potency slightly after that! It is in a very stable form, making a container of kavalactone paste a great, long lasting investement for the kava lover.

High-concentrate kavalactone paste is a potent and convenient way to enjoy kava, both for newbies who aren’t sure it will work for them and seasoned kava drinkers looking to add a bit more spice to their kava drink of choice. With its high concentrations of kavalactones and speedy onset, kavalactone paste is one of the most convenient and affordable introductions to this social lubricant of the South Pacific. Now that’s something to drink to!

Buy Kava Tea

To begin this discussion of kava tea preparation, it is important first to point out that the term ‘kava tea’ is somewhat of a misnomer. It is used fairly commonly simply because there isn’t really an equivalent term in English to describe the brew that is made out of kava. The term ‘kava tea’ often causes confusion, because those looking to buy kava tea often think that they are purchasing a plant product that should be steeped in hot water in order to achieve maximum effects. This is actually quite far from the truth.

Although it is possible to buy kava tea bags (which also contain other herbs) which can be steeped liked normal tea, the vast majority of kava products available for purchase online should not be exposed to temperatures of over 140 degrees Fahrenheit. However, most teas must be steeped at 180 degrees or more over five minutes! That’s more than enough time to destroy all of the kavalactones, the most important desirable active alkaloids in kava. The most important thing when you get your kava is to NOT steep it in boiling hot water – you won’t have a particularly interesting experience if you do this!

Rather than looking for places to buy kava tea, if you want to have an authentic kava experience, look to buy kava root. The kava root is where the potent active ingredients of the plant are concentrated. It is also the only part of the plant that is not poisonous. If you’ve ever heard stories about people suffering liver damage from kava, this is because they consumed kava that utilized stems and peelings, which indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years contain toxins and should not be consumed.

When you buy kava root, you are going to want to prepare a beverage with it, but it won’t be hot kava root tea. Rather, what the term kava tea is really referring to is the process of preparing a cold kava root extraction. Water, milk, soy milk or soy lethicin, coconut milk, or any other similar liquid can be used for extracting kava. The ideal liquid to use in your cold kava root tea is going to be something with fat in it, as this will pull out more of the active ingredients. So, cow milk, almond milk, coconut milk and so forth are the perfect bases to use for your kava extraction! Simply put several teaspoons of kava in a muslin bag or other fine mesh strainer and place in the liquid. Let soak for a few minutes, and then squeeze the liquid out of the kava root and put in the compost. Then you can sit back and relax with your cold kava tea, and enjoy the calming effects it brings.

To get an idea of the energy of traditional kava ceremonies in Hawaii, check out the following short video. This should give you a sense of how kava is consumed and venerated by our people!

Now, many people are completely satisfied with drinking cold kava beverages. However, many other people, especially those who enjoy kava regularly for its healing properties in treating anxiety, muscle relaxation or tension relief, eventually find themselves looking for novel new ways to prepare kava. After all, when you buy kava root, you will find that the flavor is quite spicy and complex – potentially tasty, but definitely an acquired taste.

Fortunately, it is possible to buy kava root that is blended with various delicious flavors. You can find instant kava drink mixes that taste of chocolate and banana, cinnamon, and many other great flavors, and you can also purchase kava chai which are blended with delicious, exotic spices to create a truly bracing and relaxing beverage. These drink mixes can be blended with any number of other ingredients to create delicious and relaxing kava cocktails, smoothies and milkshakes. Kava recipes can be found in many places on the internet, so you never have to get bored!

If, after all of this, you are still longing after a beautiful hot cup of relaxing kava tea, we have found some new information that indicates that kava may be heated to a certain point without significantly decreasing its effectiveness! Our friend over at kava.com received a number of comments from readers mentioned heating kava significantly, even making syrup out of it, and still noticing pretty intense positive effects. This prompted the author to carry out some experiments on heating kava. You can read more about it in the article on Boiling and Baking with Kava, but essentially, the author gently heated kava in with coconut milk, soy lecithin and herbal tea for varying amounts of time. He discovered that even when heated up to 60 minutes, the effects of the kava were still present! (He does mention, however, that heating the kava past fifteen minutes created a very bitter, unpleasant taste).

Then, the author tried boiling the kava tea (at a temperature of about 210 degrees Fahrenheit). This process didn’t seem to decrease the strength of the kava when it was only boiled for five minutes, although the effects did decrease after fifteen minutes of boiling. So, in other words, it seems as if the kavalactones in kava can be heated at around 140 degrees Fahrenheit for quite some time without losing potency, and that they can even be boiled at temperatures much above that for short periods of time! So, in other words, as long as you are careful and follow these guidelines, you CAN make hot kava tea, chai or hot chocolate without losing the potency of the kava!

Interestingly, the author also tried making kava brownies, but found that baking the kava did not allow any of its beneficial effects remain. This is probably because, when baking, the kava would have been exposed to temperatures of over 300 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 20 minutes. If you are interested in baking with kava, your best bet is to search online for some raw food recipes that contain chocolate – then, blend your kava powder or paste with the chocolate and use in the recipe as usual. This should create a kava dessert that will pack quite a punch!

Hopefully this article will assist you in creating different delicious kava beverages once you buy kava root. If you follow the guidelines in this article, you should be able to enjoy kava in any number of different amazing ways with no loss of potency!

Aloha no,
Makaira

Buy Kava Online

Thanks to the constantly expanding internet marketplace, it has now become extremely easy to buy kava online, as well as many other traditional plant medicines. This is a wonderful development, as it means that many people the world over are now able to learn about and benefit from the healing effects of kava. The downside of buying kava online, however, is that there are now so many websites that offer kava, and so many types of kava available, that it can become difficult to determine the best kava to buy! If one is looking to buy kava online, one thing that can help in the decision making process is to develop a deeper understanding of kava as a traditional plant medicine. This will, perhaps, make it easier to understand which online companies are selling kava as a product for healing, and which online companies are just trying to cash in on a booming market.

Kava is the most important traditional plant medicine of all of Oceania. It seems as if the use of kava spread along with the settlement of the islands in the Pacific. It has even been suggested that Polynesians colonized Easter Island in the third century because a chief had a vision when working with kava that led him there!

Europeans first became acquainted with kava through Captain James Cook and his fellow travelers, who journeyed to Polynesia in the late 1700’s. Many islanders use kava as an everyday beverage that is consumed much in the same way that coffee or tea is taken in other parts of the world. For example, here in Hawaii, myself and many of my other family members have a cup or two of fresh traditional kava tea every day, and it’s the perfect way to unwind after a long day of work – much more relaxing than a cup of coffee, certainly!

Unfortunately, when Western settlers came to Polynesia, it was very common for Christian missionaries to persecute and forbid the use of kava. In many places, traditional kava ceremonies were outlawed! Kava use came to be replaced by alcohol in many island communities, leading to serious alcoholism troubles for many people. Fortunately, in recent decades, an increase in pride in ethnic identity and a decrease in violent missionary zeal has allowed the use of kava and the kava ceremony to increase once more. Large amounts of kava are now being consumed in many places, and this has also helped to heal the problems that alcohol has caused.

Kava has been cultivated by humans for many thousands of years, and is a truly ancient medicine. We understand this because wild species of kava no longer exist. This means that all of the kava plants on the planet now are where they are due to human activity. This indicates that kava has been in use as a plant medicine since prehistoric times!

Kava can and has been used to treat many different diseases and disturbances. Most commonly these days it is used to assist with muscle tension, anxiety, depression, and other difficulties caused by stress and tension. However, kava has also been used for a variety of other medical reasons during its long history of use. In Samoa, kava is used as an aphrodisiac and stimulant, and is also used extensively as an internal and external analgesic (in other words, a pain killer). Here in Hawaii, kava is given to children in the morning and the evening if they are restless or feverish. Apparently, kava is also given to children in Tonga to calm them down. The leaves can also be crushed and placed directly on to poisonous stings from insect and fish, and is even used in some places as an antidote for the deadly poison strychnine!

As we can see from all of this information, kava has been an essential medicine for the peoples of Oceania for many thousands of years! I feel that the following quote from Louis Lewin, an early ethnographer who wrote about kava, best describes how very important it is: “Kava was so intimately intertwined with the social, religious, and political life of the South Sea islanders, and was the accompanist of every peaceful or hostile undertaking of the individual or the group, for every joyful or sorrowful event of these people, that it is no wonder that the first discoverers of these islands mentioned the plant and its use, sometimes in quite considerable detail. In addition, the magicians and physicians of the natives held it up as a medicine because it not only induced euphoria soon after it was drunk but also was able to induce even painlessness” (Lewin 1886). If you are interested in learning more about kava’s impact on culture, you can check out my blog post on the subject!

So, when you go to buy kava kava online, remember that it is not just a fashionable new herb, but a powerful ancient plant medicine that has been integral to the lives and developments of many cultures of the world! With this in mind, try to select a kava kava online vendor that seems knowledgeable and respectful about their kava. Buying direct from a farm that grows its own kava is the best option, of course, because then you know exactly where the plant is coming from and it is more likely that those who grow the plant itself will take care in processing and packaging it. And wherever you end up buying kava online, be sure to use it with the care and respect that such an ancient medicine deserves. This way, you will definitely have an even more powerful experience!

For a fascinating view of traditional kava use from anthropologist Chris Kilham, check out the following video!

Buy Kava Kava

Looking to buy kava kava can be a pretty confusing, perhaps even an overwhelming task. There are an incredible number of websites online that sell all sorts of kava in all sorts of different forms, but finding the best kava kava can be a somewhat difficult task. You can buy kava capsules, kava concentrates, kava powder, instant kava drinks, and many other different varieties of kava. To make it even more confusing, you can buy kava from farms in Hawaii, Fiji, Vanuatu, and many other parts of the world. All of these factors can make the seemingly simple task of finding the best place to buy kava kava incredibly daunting and confusing.

We know that you are looking to buy the best kava at the best possible price. We feel that it is our responsibility to offer you only the most reliable sources of this increasingly popular plant medicine. We have created this website as a resource for those people who are looking to buy kava online and who want to make sure that they receive only the best possible products!

The first thing to consider when looking to buy kava is what sort of products you are interested in. As mentioned above, there are an incredible number of kava products available online. This can be a source of confusion, but it also means that there is a kava product out there for every taste and preference, so you are bound to find one that suits you!

To begin with, of course, one can choose to buy kava kava that is extremely traditional. Unless you live in a tropical paradise you probably don’t have access to fresh kava root, which is what is used in traditional kava ceremonies, but you can get the second best thing by purchasing dried kava root powder. If you buy kava root powder, you can prepare it in a traditional method by placing about two ounces of the kava powder in a muslin bag or other cloth strainer. Place this in a bowl containing about three cups of water. Then squeeze and knead the powder in the bag for a few minutes until the water takes on a very milky white color. This is the most traditional method of kava preparation that you can use if you buy kava kava root powder, and it will leave you with a brew that is very effective and that will taste very similar to a traditional kava beverage.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a kava kava buy that will provide you with a quick fix when you need a boost, you may want to considering buying kava in capsule form. You can purchase kava root powder capsules, or kava extract capsules in various potencies. This allows you to determine for yourself what strength of kava you would like to take. You can also purchase a capsule form of kava that has been blended with a variety of other herbs to produce a relaxing and uplifting effect. Our favorite kava blend capsules are Kavalovetone capsules. These capsules are a combination of dried kavalactone macerate and fifteen other wonderful herbal extracts. These include chamomile, hops, lemon balm, passion flower, valerian, ginseng, and others! These capsules produce a truly unique and pleasant effect, so if you want to buy kava kava in capsule form, you might want to give these a try!

Another very convenient form of kava that you may want to look in to is the kavalactone paste. Kavalactone pastes are kava root extracts that can be extremely potent. If you purchase a kavalactone paste, all you need to do is take one to two small, pea sized amounts, and your on your way to a relaxed and pleasant experience. If you want to buy kava in a form that is convenient and easy to prepare, but you want something more potent than capsules, this is something to consider!

If you want to drink your kava, but are looking for something more convenient and less strong tasting than the traditional root powder, it is possible to buy kava kava in a number of different instant kava drink mixes, chai, and so forth. This is an extremely pleasant way to take kava. Many kava instant drink mixes are naturally flavored, which means they taste amazing in smoothies and juices. There are kava chai blends, which will allow you to create your own delicious, warm kava beverage. Simply blend a few teaspoons of powdered kava chai in to a glass of lukewarm (under 105F) milk, soy milk, or coconut milk, and enjoy a spicy, delicious and relaxing beverage! Kava instant drinks and blends are wonderful because you can mix them directly into your beverage of choice, and they allow for an incredible amount of creativity! If you want to explore the culinary potential of kava in beverages, try instant kava drink mixes, and enjoy!

If you still want to learn more about kava, you may want to take a look at Makaira’s Kava Blog. This blog contains a great deal of information about kava and is updated regularly. Makaira also takes time to answer all questions left by customers on her blog, so she’s a great resource for those who are still confused about what kava to buy!

Buy Kava Direct

…where and how to buy kava