Do you drink Kava? It’s like coffee… in French? Café? Kava with “v”? Yes! Like the Spanish Cava! No? I don’t understand anything anymore… – it’s an illustration of a typical conversation about Kava. Every connoisseur of the drink from the Pacific Islands probably knows it. So, let’s resolve a few doubts about these similar-sounding names.
KAVA – also called Kava Kava – is the name of the drink and the plant from which our drink is made (the botanical name of the species is Piper methysticum, or Methystine Pepper). The name is the same, because the preparation of the drink does not require any additives – Kava for drinking is only a natural extract from kava roots. In different parts of Oceania, Kava operates under slightly different names: for example, in Hawaii it is called AWA, and in the islands of Samoa – AVA. In Fiji Kava is also known as YAQONA or GROG, in Vanuatu – MALOK, on Pohnpei – SAKAU. The name Kava is probably taken from the Polynesian language, in which it means bitter taste.
