Mahakea kava

Mahakea is a kava cultivar from Hawaii Island, Hawaii. Legal class: Noble.

Origin

Island: Hawaii Island. Country: Hawaii. Coordinates: 19.5667, -155.5. Hawaii Island on the kava map.

Legal standing

Noble, per Codex CXS 336R-2020 and the FAO/WHO kava discussion paper.

Chemotype

A chemotype ranks the six kavalactones from most to least abundant. It says nothing about how much kava is in the root, only about the order. Published readings for this cultivar disagree, so all of them are shown.

Code	Kavalactones, most to least abundant	Source
461235	Kavain > Methysticin > Desmethoxyyangonin > Dihydrokavain > Yangonin > Dihydromethysticin	Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa; sample 1 of 5
426315	Kavain > Dihydrokavain > Methysticin > Yangonin > Desmethoxyyangonin > Dihydromethysticin	Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa; sample 2 of 5
462531	Kavain > Methysticin > Dihydrokavain > Dihydromethysticin > Yangonin > Desmethoxyyangonin	Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa; sample 3 of 5
462351	Kavain > Methysticin > Dihydrokavain > Yangonin > Dihydromethysticin > Desmethoxyyangonin	Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa; sample 4 of 5
461235	Kavain > Methysticin > Desmethoxyyangonin > Dihydrokavain > Yangonin > Dihydromethysticin	Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa; sample 5 of 5
461235	Kavain > Methysticin > Desmethoxyyangonin > Dihydrokavain > Yangonin > Dihydromethysticin	Kava Library; vendor-published single value

Chemotype genuinely shifts with plant age, which part of the root was milled, soil and shade. Some of this spread is real variation and some of it is disagreement between laboratories. Treat any single code as a claim about one batch, not a property of the variety.

How it is described

“Better than average potency with nicely balanced effects”, Kava Library

Taste and mouthfeel

No published tasting notes.

Background

“One of the more common cultivars in Hawaiian forests. Fast growing, erect, with a large stump within two years”, Lebot et al. 1999 HPLC, in Johnston & Rogers, Hawaiian 'Awa
“A 2015 study measured the root beverage at 432615, a different ordering again from the five root samples Lebot reported”, Wang et al. 2015, J Food Sci Technol

Availability

Limited. Sold by a handful of vendors.

Known to stock it: Gourmet Hawaiian Kava.

Sold as

Mahakea Medium Grind, Gourmet Hawaiian Kava, 454 g: 65.00 USD (143 USD/kg)
Mahakea Hawaiian Kava Root, kava.com / Kona Kava Farm, 113 g: 19.99 USD (176 USD/kg)
Mahakea Instant Kava, Gourmet Hawaiian Kava, 200 g: 110.00 USD (550 USD/kg)
Mahakea Instant Kava, Gourmet Hawaiian Kava, 50 g: 30.00 USD (600 USD/kg)

Prices read from vendor storefronts on 2026-09-16, ranked cheapest per kilogram first. No vendor pays to be listed.

Documentation

Corroborated. Sources cited on this page: