Kava Chocolate and Kava in the News!

Posted by on Mar 1, 2011 in Kava News | 2 comments

Kava Chocolate and Kava in the News!Aloha everyone!

I feel like it’s been awhile since I posted a blog article. Things have been so completely busy here at the farm, and I’ve barely had the chance to read the news, much less write a new post. I hope everyone had an amazing Valentine’s Day and was able to share some delicacies with their loved ones! A friend of mine came to visit me from Japan, and so, following the Japanese tradition for Valentine’s Day, she and I made handmade chocolates and gave them to my whole family and quite a few of my friends. I even made a few pieces with some kava in them! Kava and chocolate is a surprisingly good combination, since the powerful sweetness of the chocolate balances well with the earthiness of the kava. Once I perfect my kava chocolate recipe I’ll definitely post it up here for all of you!

The reason that I was actually inspired to write this blog post, though, was not because of kava chocolates, as amazing as they are. I finally had a chance to sit back and read the news online today and I actually found two surprising kava articles that I wanted to share with all of you!

The first article is a pretty short one, but it really made me smile. According to a New Zealand news site, Fiji, which declared itself an independent country twenty-four years ago, has finally removed the image of the Queen of England from their coins. And what did they choose to replace her on the new two dollar coin? A traditional kava bowl (tanoa)!!  I feel like this is a pretty amazing symbol in a couple of ways. First of all, Fiji is finally removing the symbols of its oppression under colonialism! And not only that, they are choosing to express the most important symbols of real Fijian culture on their currency, and those symbols include kava! I feel like this is a great sign both for the development of Fiji and for the strength of traditional Kava use in the country!

The second article comes from a British site and is related to the Australian Kava study I discussed last month. This study has been coming up over and over again in the news, and this particular article is interesting in that it states that the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology has published the framework established by that study and is promoting the expansion of the safe medicinal use of kava!! Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really sure how I feel about kava becoming a standardized pharmaceutical medicine. On the one hand, it does increase accessibility and safety. On the other hand, though, I feel like making kava into a pill destroys its traditional foundation, and also prevents people from really respecting it as a healing plant.

In the long run, though, I think that this is a very positive trend over all. After all, the ban on Kava was only lifted in 2008 in the EU, so the fact that, just three years later, the medical community is seriously considering kava to be a safe and effective tool for treating anxiety is a huge, huge step in a really good direction! I just hope that more traditional forms of kava also continue to be available and gain in popularity. Fortunately, with the developments in Fiji, it seems that this will likely be the case!

Let me know if you come across any more articles on kava in the news! I’m excited to see what the future holds for this amazing plant and the traditions that surround it!

Aloha no,
Makaira

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2 Comments

  1. Mark,

    So sorry to confuse you! As simply as I can state it: To me, there is no comparison to simply digging up a Kava Root and chewing that root, fresh from Mother Nature! Next best to that is making a drink (extract or tea) from that fresh Kava Root. The whole of Mother Nature is still alive within that root and it makes my heart and my mind and my spirit soar. Next favorite would be to make a drink from dried, powered Kava Root. Since the root is never heat-treated, the enzymes, the Kavalactones, and the other substances that make Kava so special are still aline within that powdered root. It takes more powdered root than fresh root to get the desired effects, but when a proper Kava tea is made, the experience is almost indistinguishable.

    But, every person is different, and every body is different. In the Western world, people seem to like pills and capsules. People (only from our personal experience) seem to be less interested in going through the effort to connect with the Kava plant, to buy the powered root and to make a (cold) tea from it. I can understand this; the world is a very busy place. We don’t always have time to have a Kava Ceremony in our kitchens! As a result, our Kava Capsules are tied with our Kava Root as a top selling product.

    We want to share the beauty of ‘Awa with as many as possible, and if customers demand capsules, then that’s what we’ll offer them.

    But, inevitably, buying Kava Kava in a capsule or a pill is perhaps the least potent way to experience this plant. All of our products are still alive with enzymes, but when it’s packaged or crammed into a pill, it would take a lot of those pills to equal the potency of a single drink. With convenience, it often comes at the price of potency and connection with the plant.

    Hope this helps! Aloha no, Makaira

  2. “On the other hand, though, I feel like making kava in to a pill destroys its traditional foundation, and also prevents people from really respecting it as a healing plant.”

    Wait. You sell kava in a pill (including an extract) on your site. Should I not buy this product? In your earlier post you state that you only consume kava as a tea after saying you’ve never experienced negative side effects (which seems to suggest you stay away from the pills). But again, you sell it in a pill form on your site. From both of these statements am I to believe that I shouldn’t be buying the pills from you and should only consume the root powder? And if so, why do you sell the pills?

    Some clarity on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

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