Traditional Kava Making in Vanuatu

To see information about kava making in Tanna, Vanuatu specifically check this link.

Most other places in Vanuatu, kava is traditionally ground by hand using a piece of coral and a kava board to catch the ground kava root. The piece of coral is in the shape of a small, thick baseball bat where the large end is used to grind the kava. The pieces of green kava root are put in the non grinding hand and the thick end of the grinding coral is pushed firmly against the green kava root. While pushing the kava the idea is to twist the kava coral into the green root and grind it. The ground kava is caught on the kava board that is placed below it. The natives in rural Vanuatu also use PVC pipes or old U.S mortar shells from WWII to pound the kava. They stand either of the 2 upright and attach the base to a board. They use a wooden pole to pound the kava roots inside of the cylinder.

This ground kava is mixed with a small amount of water right on the kava board. The kava is then pressed using a traditional cloth made from the bark of a hibiscus tree. The kava is pressed directly into coconut shells usually. After the kava root is all pressed, a final straining is done for each shell using a new strainer funnel made from hibiscus bark. The funnel is held high over the shell of kava to induce a foamy head on it. The kava is then drunk. In Vanuatu kava is drank in a specific order in the nakamal. If there are any special guests present, they are given the honor of consuming the first shell of kava. If a chief is present, he would drink his kava with the guests.

Here are a few pictures to show you this process visually.

Grinding Kava with Coral and Traditional Kava Board

Learning to Grind Kava Kava the Ancient Way

Grinding Kava By Hand is Hard!

Straining the Kava

Final Product

Drinking Kava in a Real Nakamal.

Making kava for a Vanuatu kava bar is done much differently. Well in Port Vila or Santo anyway. Kava is made in very large batches and takes several strong men. Kava is gathered green and chopped up into smaller pieces. It is then fed through a meat grinder after that. These are not small meat grinders either. This is a picture of the meat grinder that is used in Ronnie's Nakamal in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

This is a picture of Ronnies Nakamal in Port Vila.

The kava is then pressed using various types of cloth that are available. Here it appears that they are using cloth from rice sacks. It is a good thing that kava is so antimicrobial.

In Vanuatu it is customary to spit after consuming kava. It is offensive to owners of some kava bars to not spit after drinking a few shells of their fine Vanuatu kava. Not spitting can offend the owner because it makes them feel as if their kava is not strong enough.