Bula. Long before kava reaches a bowl, a shell, or a bag of our kava, it spends years quietly growing in the ground. Kava (Piper methysticum) is one of the more patient crops in the world, and that patience is part of why the drink tastes and feels the way it does. Knowing how it's grown gives you a better sense of what you're actually holding when you scoop it into a bilo.
A shrub, not a seed
Kava rarely produces viable seed, so farmers grow it the way it has been grown for generations: from stem cuttings taken from a healthy parent plant and replanted by hand. Each cutting goes into well-drained, mineral-rich soil, usually tucked among taller crops like coconut, banana, or dalo that give the young plant the dappled shade it needs. Full sun stresses kava; shade and steady rainfall let it grow slowly and evenly, which matters more than people expect.
Kadavu: the soil behind our kava
Our kava comes from Kadavu, our mother's family home, and one of Fiji's most respected kava-growing regions. It's the only place we source from. Our father's side is from Colocolo (pronounced 'tholo-tholo'), Taveuni. The heritage and the sourcing are two different halves of the same family story. Kadavu's volcanic soil and steady rainfall suit kava particularly well, and generations of local knowledge about when to plant, how to space rows, and when a plant is finally ready shape every harvest.
Years, not months
A kava plant is typically left in the ground for three to five years before harvest, sometimes longer if a farmer is holding out for a more mature root. This is the opposite of a fast crop. Farmers are effectively planning years ahead of any sale, which is part of why relationships with growers matter so much in this industry. You can't rush a good harvest by paying more for it.
From the ground to the root
When a plant is ready, farmers dig up the whole root system by hand rather than cutting it, because both the lateral roots and the rootstock are used. The roots are washed, separated from the stalks, and dried, traditionally in the sun or under cover, until they're stable enough to store and transport. Only then are they peeled, graded, and either pounded fresh or ground into the fine powder that ends up in a bag of our kava.
This is also the stage where quality is decided. Noble kava varieties, the ones grown for generations specifically for drinking, are kept completely separate from tudei and other non-noble varieties, which mature faster but are harder on the body and never make it into anything we sell. Every batch of our kava is 100% noble kava, single origin, with nothing else blended in.
A few things a good harvest depends on
- Cuttings from healthy, known parent plants, not random stock
- Shade and steady rainfall through years of slow growth
- Patience to leave the plant in the ground long enough
- Careful hand-digging, washing, and drying after harvest
- Strict separation of noble kava from other varieties
None of this shows up on a label. It's why single-origin kava from a place like Kadavu tastes and settles differently to kava with no clear origin at all. Sourcing through family rather than an anonymous supply chain means we can see, and vouch for, every one of these steps.
If you'd like to taste what a few years of patient growing in Kadavu actually produces, our signature kava is single origin, 100% noble, and sourced exactly the way it's described here. Vinaka for reading, and we'll see you back here soon.