Or as it is known here, ava.
Kava root is pounded to almost a powder then put in a cloth bag for brewing. Depending on who makes it, it can be weak or strong.
In the big wooden serving bowl it looks like muddy water.served in a coconut shell it tastes a bit like dishwater but you can add flavoring.
Mick with all your pains, you might find a use for this stuff.
Take a large sip, then another. In about two minutes your tongue and the roof of your mouth have a slight metallic sensation followed by mild numbness. By the time you have finished a coconut full you are at peace with the world. It is a sort of sedative and I always sleep better after a night at the Kava bar.
I do not recommend it if you are riding home afterwards. Fortunately, I live only 150 yards away.
If you are trying to loose weight, it is an appetite surpressant too.
It is an old Polynesian tradition all over the Pacific ocean.
It is not drunk to savor the bouquet or nueances of fruity taste like wine, it is drunk for the effect. Best done in large gulps so as not to have to savor the dishwater taste. After the tongue goes numb, who cares anyway.
I don't know if the police have any way of detecting it on a driver, but I wouldn't care to be driving after drinking it anyway. Last night a pretty girl asked if I would take her home. She lived a couple of miles away down at the end of a very lonely and dark road. She probably was not old enough to drink alcohol legally anyway so I volunteered. I had only had a half a coconut at that time. It was a pleasant ride at about twenty MPH with the clean fresh trade winds wafting through tropical foliage. I only wish I had been about 40 years younger.
I am getting to really like this place.
Phelonius