On a warm evening
on the big island of Hawaii, kava grower Zachary
Gibson proudly demonstrated his latest drink, a kava
colada. "See, I take a whole ice tray of frozen
pineapple-juice cubes, put them all in a blender
with a full can of coconut milk, add one ounce of
fluid kava extract and just a little honey and vanilla,
blend it all up, and it makes six really delicious
drinks."
Zachary whizzed the concoction
in a blender until the mixture was smooth and creamy.
The fat in the coconut would help absorb the kavalactones
in the kava extract. The pineapple, coconut milk,
honey, and vanilla would all blunt the bitterness
of the kava. Six of us hoisted the kava coladas and
drank together. The drink was impressively delicious,
and we all felt the effects of the kava immediately.
Zachary was excited. "See? You make a drink
like this with kava, and people will really like
it."
We enjoyed the kava coladas so
much that we made another blender full about 30 minutes
later and drank those too. Half an hour later, we
had a third round. Meanwhile, we did what islanders
in Oceania have done for thousands of years. We sat
together as the warm, golden sun set into the vast
Pacific Ocean, and we shared thoughtful conversation
and good company.
Excerpted from “Psyche
Delicacies” by Chris Kilham.
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