1 guide tagged History
Explainer
Before kava was a canned tonic in a Brooklyn bodega, it was — and still is — the social and ceremonial heart of an entire region of the planet. People have been preparing it the same basic way for something like three thousand years, and the cultures that grow it built welcome rites, chiefly protocol, and peace-making rituals around a shared bowl. This is the respect-building version of kava's history: where the plant comes from and how it spread, a tour of the living ceremonies island nation by island nation, what those rituals are actually for, and an honest reckoning with how Western kava culture relates to the people who gave us the drink — gratitude, not costume.
Read the guide →~8 min read