Becoming a True Kavasseur…
Wine lovers argue about Bordeaux versus Napa. Coffee people can taste the difference between Ethiopia and Guatemala. Kava drinkers are catching up fast, and we now have something those older obsessions took centuries to build: a shared quality standard.
In late 2024, the Kava Coalition released the Harmonized Multinational Kava Standards, a voluntary benchmark built by comparing the leading rulebooks for botanicals from the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and the World Health Organization.
Overheard at the Bar…
“Milling, Muzzles, and Melting Pots”
“You’d be surprised what you can do with a lathe, a block of billet aluminum, and six hours of patience.”
It’s another regular night at Twisted Totem, and after the karaoke’s done, the last rhino horn shell’s been passed, and someone’s successfully explained what “nootropic” means to a cop, I find myself at the bar talking firearms with Brody, one of the kavatenders.
Not where I thought the night was headed.
Back to the Rootlands: Fiji
First Stop: FIJI
In this first dispatch of Islands in the Shell, we begin where the water speaks softest and the root runs deepest: Fiji. Not a dot on your travel map, but a place where kava is not a drink—it’s a bloodstream. I should know. I’ve watched it swirl in coconut shells long before anyone gave it a Latin name.