Auckland kava bar goes global, exporting bottles of the sedating drink overseas

Sunday, 3 November 2019

The drink is created from pressing juice out of fresh kava roots, rather than using a dry powder.

People behind Auckland city's first kava bar have helped develop a bottled version of the sedating drink and started exporting it overseas.

The beverage, created at the government-backed FoodBowl facility in south Auckland's Māngere, is the first ever bottle of 'green kava' – that is, juice pressed from fresh kava roots.

Four Shells is Auckland city's first kava bar, selling the drink over the counter.

The vast majority of kava consumed in New Zealand and the Pacific islands is made from straining a dry powder in water.

Zbigniew Dumienski, who helped with the Pacific Roots Kava project, said it was common practice to turn kava roots into a powder for long-term storage.

Four Shells co-founder Anau Mesui Henry drinks a shell of kava, increasingly seen as a healthy alternative to alcohol.

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But in Vanuatu, a juice is pressed from the roots and drunk on the spot. The result is a more potent, better-tasting drink that's easier on the stomach, he said.

The layperson who has only sampled kava in watered-down tourist ceremonies might be surprised at the strength of the creation.

Kava, often maligned and misunderstood in the West, is now growing in popularity, seen as a healthy alternative to alcohol.

It produces relaxing effects without intoxicating the drinker, and preliminary studies suggest it doesn't impair driving.

Dumienski said at present, 90 per cent of the stock was exported to America, where it was sold over the counter in kava bars.

It was also available at the Auckland kava bar Four Shells in Victoria Park Markets.

The drink was developed after trying out various machines at the FoodBowl, searching for the best way to press the juice.

The roots arrive frozen from growers in countries across the Pacific including Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji.

'No-one has ever bottled pure kava. The only bottles you had before were drinks containing extracts,' Dumienski said.

'Doing it in New Zealand creates an interesting hub, because it opens new opportunities for the kava growers in the islands.

'Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji growers all want to send their own kava roots here.'

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Zbigniew Dumienski was the found of Four Shells Kava Bar and creator of the bottled drink. He instead assisted with both projects.