Kava is a drink made from the root of Piper methysticum, a member of the pepper family native to the South Pacific Islands. It is mixed with water, strained, and served cold. There is no alcohol in it and no caffeine in it.
That is the short version. The longer version is more interesting, because almost every part of the answer is about a specific plant, a specific part of that plant, and a preparation that has not changed much in a very long time.
What Is Kava?
Kava is both the plant and the drink made from it, and in most conversations the word is doing the second job.
The plant is Piper methysticum, a shrub in the Piperaceae family, which is the same family as the black pepper in your grinder. It grows across the South Pacific, and it is propagated from cuttings rather than seed, so a kava field is closer to a set of clones than a crop grown from a packet. It takes years in the ground before a plant is worth harvesting.
You will also see it written as kava kava. Same plant, doubled name, a habit from older writing about the South Pacific. If you see kava root, kava drink or kava tea, those refer to the raw material, the prepared drink and, in some places, a hot preparation of the same thing.
The Plant: What Piper Methysticum Actually Is
Piper methysticum is a cultivated shrub that does not reproduce on its own, which is unusual and tells you something about its history.
The plant has no viable seed. Every kava plant alive came from a cutting of another one, which means the varieties that exist today were selected by people, over generations, and carried between islands deliberately. Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hawaii all have their own cultivars and their own traditions around them.
Kava was drunk at gatherings, celebrations and ceremonies long before it was drunk in a room with a counter and a menu. The preparation was part of the hospitality. That is context worth having when you are handed a bowl, even in a strip mall in Colorado.
The Root, and Why the Part Matters
The part of the plant that goes into the drink is the root, and specifically the lateral root, which is the traditional drinking material.
A kava plant has a central rootstock and lateral roots branching off it. The lateral root is the part traditionally used for drinking kava, and it is not the cheapest part of the plant to buy. Stems, leaves and aerial parts are not drinking material, and a supply chain that includes them is a supply chain that has made a decision about cost.
The compounds kava is measured by are called kavalactones, and they are concentrated in the root. The entire preparation, which sounds simple, is really one job: getting the kavalactones out of the ground root and into water.
Which kava you are drinking, and which part of the plant it came from, is the real variable in this whole category. We go into that in its own post on noble kava, because it deserves more than a paragraph.
The Drink: What Is Actually in a Shell
A shell of kava is ground kava root and water, kneaded and strained, served cold in a four ounce metal bowl. That is the entire ingredient list.
The bowl is where the name comes from. Traditionally the shell is half a coconut. Ours are metal, because coconut shells are difficult to clean. A single shell is four ounces, a double is eight and a triple is twelve. It is drunk in one go rather than sipped, which surprises people the first time.
Two things are worth knowing before a first one, and both of them change what you should order:
- The taste is earthy, and most people do not love it. There is something on the bar to chase it with. Nobody is offended.
- Kava has what is called a reverse tolerance. Unlike most things you drink, the first few often land lightest, and people tend to notice more on a third visit than a first. It is the reason first timers usually get pointed at a concentrated specialty rather than a plain shell.
We prepare ours fresh, in house, every day. How that actually happens, from dry root to strainer bag, is its own post.
What Kava Is Not
Kava is not alcohol, it is not kratom, and there is no caffeine in it.
It is not alcohol, and that is not a marketing position, it is a fact about the ingredient list. Nothing in a shell is fermented or distilled. It is the reason a room can stay open until two and everybody in it drives themselves home.
It is not kratom. They are two unrelated plants that happen to share a bar in some places, including ours. Different plant, different part of the plant, different hemisphere, different menu, different age rules. Most writing on the subject blurs them together, and we have a separate post that does not.
As for what it does, people describe kava as a sense of ease while staying mentally present, which is why it is possible to read, work or hold a conversation on a shell. That is a description of what drinkers report, not a claim about what it does in a body, and we are careful about the difference. There is a whole post on what people actually report and how long it takes to show up.
Kava at Kavasutra is 18 and up, and we do not serve it to anyone pregnant.
Where Our Kava Comes From, and How to Try It
Our kava comes from Vanuatu, and it is prepared fresh here every day.
We pour three: Van, a blend of lateral kava root and chips imported from Vanuatu; Guru, a five diamond Vanuatu crop that is only available part of the year, strong but smoother than Van; and Newshyt, a Kavasutra exclusive that is smooth and potent. Any of the three comes in a single, a double or a triple. The specialties, which are concentrated kava in the same servings, are what most first timers start on. All of it is on the kava menu.
If you are choosing where to drink kava, make sure the bar serves kava from Vanuatu. That is the safest supply, and a Kavatender should be able to tell you which strain is in your shell and where the crop came from.
The first Kavasutra opened in Lake Worth, Florida in 2008, and there are 28 of them now across Florida, Colorado and Arizona. More of that story is on the about page, including why the cheers in our bars is Malo rather than Bula.
Ready to actually try one? What to expect on a first visit covers how to order, what to ask for and what the room is like. Then find the closest bar.
Frequently asked questions
What is kava made from?
Kava is made from the root of Piper methysticum, a shrub in the pepper family from the South Pacific. Specifically it is made from the lateral root, which is the part traditionally used for drinking kava. The root is ground, mixed with water, kneaded and strained, and the drink is served cold.
Is kava the same as kava kava?
Yes. Kava and kava kava refer to the same plant, Piper methysticum, and to the drink made from its root. The doubled name comes from older writing about the South Pacific and is still common in the United States.
Does kava contain alcohol or caffeine?
No. A shell of kava is ground kava root and water. Nothing in it is fermented or distilled, and kava contains no caffeine.
Is kava the same thing as kratom?
No. They are unrelated plants. Kava is the root of Piper methysticum, a pepper family plant from the South Pacific. Kratom is the leaf of a different tree from Southeast Asia, served on a separate menu with different age rules.
Where does kava come from?
Kava is grown across the South Pacific, including Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hawaii, and it has been prepared and drunk at gatherings and ceremonies there for generations. The kava served at Kavasutra comes from Vanuatu.