Your island for everything kava

kava.fyi documents 79 named cultivars of Piper methysticum, maps the islands they grow on and the bars that serve them, and explains how the plant works. Every claim carries the source that published it.

Questions people ask about kava

What does kava actually feel like?
Relaxed and clear rather than drunk. Most people notice loosened shoulders and easier conversation without losing their train of thought. The mouth goes numb within seconds, and the effect itself arrives fifteen to forty-five minutes after drinking.
What is a kava chemotype, in plain terms?
A six-digit code that ranks the six kavalactones in the root from most to least abundant. 423156 means kavain leads. It tells you the character of the kava, not its strength: two roots with the same code can differ several-fold in how much kavalactone they actually contain.
What is the difference between noble and tudei kava?
Noble kava is what Pacific communities drink daily. Tudei, meaning two-day, has kavain ranking fourth or lower and more dihydromethysticin, and is associated with nausea and next-day lethargy. Vanuatu bans tudei export outright under its Kava Act of 2002.
How do you prepare kava properly?
Two to four tablespoons of ground root per person in a strainer bag, steeped in cold water, then kneaded under the water for five to ten minutes until the liquid looks like milky tea. Never use hot water: heat destroys the kavalactones.
Is kava legal where I live?
It varies sharply. Legal in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the Pacific nations. Banned as a food in the United Kingdom, Poland and the Netherlands, prescription-only in Germany, and unauthorised across the European Union because it is absent from the novel food list.
Is kava safe?
The combinations linked to reported harm are kava with alcohol, and kava with drugs the liver has to process such as paracetamol. Drink one or the other. Heavy long-term use is associated with a reversible dry, scaly skin condition called kava dermopathy, which clears when intake stops. Kava is not a treatment for any medical condition.
Which kava should I start with?
A balanced or heady noble cultivar from Vanuatu or Fiji, in traditional grind rather than instant or extract. Borogu, Melomelo and Palarasul are the ones most widely exported, which means they are also the easiest to buy and to compare prices on.
Why do sources disagree about the same cultivar?
Because chemotype genuinely shifts with plant age, which part of the root was milled, soil and shade, and because laboratories differ. Twenty of the cultivars documented here have contradictory published readings. We list all of them rather than averaging them into a number nobody measured.