On Sunday we were initiated into the true spirit of the Islands. I’m not talking about watching young girls gyrate their hips in grass skirts, eating a disinterred pig, or even getting lei’d. Been there, done that (about five years ago when we honeymooned in Hawaii). What I am talking about is the magical elixir of the Pacific Islands… kava.
Just to set some context, it would be an understatement to say that Kate and I have been a bit stressed out lately. “Yeah, right” you might be thinking. “You quit your jobs and moved to Hawaii; what do you have to be stressed about?” Well, since I quit my job, we’ve spent the past few weeks dealing with myriad details, like finding decent international health insurance, purging our belongings, moving the remainder into a storage unit, and shipping our car from California to the Big Island. After our arrival in paradise, our work has continued with hunting for a place to live and handling all the various tasks that we didn’t have time to finish in California, like our income taxes (a painstaking delight when a small business and truckloads of non-cash charitable contributions are involved). Although the pace of our workload does seem to be slowing down, we’re still feeling the emotional aftershocks. Especially Kate, who has worked so hard on her business for the past three years that she has forgotten how to relax. Sure she fills her free time reading novels on her Kindle and watching TV shows on hulu.com, but she often has a nagging feeling that she’s shirking some pressing responsibility, which limits her enjoyment of these leisure activities.
Enough bitching. The point is that simply quitting your job and moving to Hawaii is not alone a recipe for relaxation. However, blending powdered ‘awa root with cold water and little vegetable oil apparently can be. We learned about kava while staying in our short-term rental here on the Big Island. There was a poster on the wall with some kind of tiki character and the motto “From Vanuatu… With Kava.” Both the character and the odd words caught my attention every time I saw it. When I finally got around to Googling it, I learned that Vanuatu is a South Pacific island nation, and that kava, although it sounds like java, is a beverage with very different effects. According to Wikipedia, “Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity.” It is also safe (Pacific Islanders have used it regularly for thousands of years) and non-addictive, has minimal side effects and possible medical applications, and is surprisingly legal (unlike at least one other psychoactive substance with similar characteristics).
After doing some research, I discovered that we could try some at the Kanaka Kava Bar in downtown Kona. They only use the root of the kava plant, also known as the ‘awa plant in Hawaiian. Some companies produce cheaper quality kava that includes the stems and leaves, but the traditional and best way to prepare it is with just the roots. We went there on Sunday around noon, not quite knowing what to expect, and found a semi-outdoor tiki bar with a lot of relaxed clientele. On the bar was a big bowl ‘o ‘awa, but we had to wait a few minutes for the server to appear from the back. I had read that the flavor of kava is a bit like dirty water, so I ordered one straight for me and one mixed with pineapple juice for Kate, both in the traditional coconut shell cups.
When I took a drink of straight kava, I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted better than the tap water where we lived in Chesapeake, VA (which also tasted like dirt water). “I guess it all depends on your perspective,” said the server. She sliced up some pineapple for us as chasers. After a few moments, we started to feel the characteristic mouth tingle/numbness, and shortly thereafter a wave of relaxation. “Forcibly calm” is how Kate described it.
We spent the next hour or so wandering around art galleries, and then we proceeded to our local natural foods store to pick up a bag of powdered ‘awa root to enjoy at home that night. I followed a recipe on the web to prepare it in a blender, skipping the step about straining it (the debris was pretty small, and I didn’t want to throw away any of the fun kavalactones). My homebrewed batch seemed stronger than what we ordered at the bar (and much cheaper), and it provided me with some of the best sleep that I’ve had since we arrived in Hawaii (almost eleven hours worth). Last night we enjoyed some more. I only slept six hours, but then I went for the best run I’ve had in 2010 (average speed of 4 mph and a peak of 11.9 mph according to my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS wristwatch). For some reason, I felt compelled to listen to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while I ran. What a sublime experience!
We decided to mail order some more kava, which is a much cheaper way to go, and is probably better quality than what we got at the store. It’s ironic that we could have mail ordered it just as easily anywhere else in the U.S., but we had to travel to Hawaii first to discover it. I guess this is an example of what our travels are all about. At least we get to share these experiences with all of you, and this is one that you can try for yourself at home.
Cheers,
Note: Yes, I pulled a Britney Spears and shaved my head bald. It started out as an attempt to cut my own hair with a beard trimmer, with patchy results. Since I wasn’t really going for the “radiation sickness” look, I decided to reboot and shave it all off. Hair grows back, at least those that haven’t succumbed yet to male pattern baldness. Now the trick is to get enough sun exposure on my head to even out the skin tones, without burning my scalp. Next time Kate will try trimming my hair.
Addendum (April 22, 2010):
We received our mail-order Vanuatu Kava root powder from Kava Kauai a few days after posting this article. It is by far the strongest tasting of the three varieties that we have tried, but it feels nice on the brain for far longer than it tastes nasty on the tongue. I have tried a few tricks to mask or balance the flavor, like mixing it into homemade chocolate soy milk with lots of honey, or blending it with ginger, all to no avail. This stuff has some powerful flavor! Tonight we tried the best approach thus far (just the plain recipe at the top of this link). After squeezing the kava through a cheesecloth into a bowl of water for 2-3 minutes, we did shooters of kava (double shot glass) spaced 5-10 minutes apart, chasing each one with a few bite-sized chunks of fresh pineapple. Much better! It still won’t win any taster’s choice awards, but it went down okay and the pineapple took the flavor away every time. Now all we feel is the pleasant buzz.
Here is a short video that shows the squeezing method of preparation: