How do I prepare my Kava drink?

There are numerous ways to prepare kava. All you have to do it jump on ‘You Tube’ and search kava preparation. You will be bombarded with short videos with everyone’s ‘how to’ and maybe a couple of recipes as well. Some people like to make kava drinks with coconut milk or chocolate or agave to help with the taste. Us? we are traditionalists and drink it the good old-fashioned way, with water.

There are some great devices out there now as well such as kava shakers with a straining ball – similar to protein powder shakers. The Kavafied Aluball Kava Maker has some really good reviews and if your time is short then maybe this is the thing for you.

We believe the trick to good strong kava is all in the timing and mixing. The cake blender in our house mixes more kava than cake! The more agitation the kava powder gets the more it activates those kavalactones!

We have been having kava nights at our house for several years with all our friends and family from Vanuatu that are living here in Australia and we haven’t let them down yet with our kava mix.

Here is our way of preparing kava

You will need:

  • High grade noble kava powder
  • Water
  • 2x bowls
  • 2x straining cloths*
  • Kava shells or small cups for drinking Kava
  • Ladle (optional)
  • Cake mixer or blender if available

 

1.Measurement: for approx. 1 person: 3Tbs Kava powder will give you 1-2 shells if Kava.

When we do our Kava sessions (over a few hours) we allow 70-100grams per person

2.To every 70-100gram Kava Powder add 400ml warm water.

This is a guide and we like to do it by eye, as at this stage of the game I want it to look like a thick batter.

  1. Add Kava powder to blender, cake mixer or large bowl
  2. mix vigorously until well combined and looks like a thick batter.

5.if using a blender or mixer lower the speed to low and slow and let it mix for approximately 10 minutes (at least 5mins if you are impatient, as this is where the magic happens). If you using a bowl let it sit and just come back to it periodically and give it a stir when passing by.

  1. Empty kava batter into one of the bowls (if not already in the bowl) and gradually add more warm water and mix with a spatula until the kava slides off your spatula but leaves a little residue/coating behind on the spatula. Your now ready to strain your Kava
  2. select 2 straining cloths

*Nylon or polyester work best (many Enjo laundry bags have been sacrificed for kava straining! just saying), Pantyhose, cheesecloth or muslin also work. The boys have currently become partial to my nylon sarongs from Vanuatu to strain the kava.

  1. Lay one of the straining cloths over the other bowl and carefully use a cup or ladle to pour the kava mixture into the cloth making sure none of it spills out of the sides (very important as we don’t want any of the residue in our beverage)
  2. Now massage and squeeze the kava liquid through the cloth into the clean bowl. You will know you have squeezed enough once there is no more liquid coming out of the cloth and the kava residue known as ‘makas’ is relatively dry and crumbly.
  3. Either dispose of the makas or put in another bowl to make another mix (in a relatively short time period to reduce the risk of microbial contamination) **
  4. Repeat this process until you have strained all the kava. To give you an idea about how long this takes to prepare, for us, if it’s 3 of us drinking (a quiet night) from the start of the mix in the cake mixer to ready to drink: 15-20 minutes.
  5. Once done, clean and rinse the first bowl. Lay a clean cloth over the top of the cleaned bowl and carefully strain the kava liquid through to help eliminate any further kava residue. Dispose of any residue left in this cloth. Your kava is now ready! Enjoy!

If you have made a big batch of kava and can’t finish it put it into an airtight container/bottle, refrigerate and consume within 3 days.

** some people do mix the makas again to make their Kava go further. If you want to try this, put your makas in a bowl add warm water directly to the bowl until it’s a thick batter again but stop here and don’t add more water. Mix together really quick (just to combine the water and kava into a thick batter) and repeat the steps above.