Last Flight nakamal near the airport. This place is a wet dream for me, it has everything a nakamal should have that I've always fantasized about. There are so many places to sit, blocked off private areas, I am sure I didn't even see everything last night. The bathrooms are clean, the washem-mouth is good (though a little pricey), and it's away from the main road so it's really quiet and there are no headlights to piss you off. Nobody was playing music last night which was good. It smells good in there, which I've never experienced before. And the ladies serving the kava are French (I won't say anything more about that).
Kava Kwaliti
It was good, the first shell was a 150 so I was feeling it. This morning I feel fine, after 6 shells and a couple Tuskers. They keep the kava on ice there, so it doesn't turn and taste bad towards the end of the night, and it goes down easier after you have had a few shells. Brilliant idea.
Company
I met up with Wotlolan and his nephew Alex there. I haven't seen Wotti in three weeks or so, and I had only met Alex once before with Alfred at Parliament Park. Wotti was the sponsor tonight, bought everything.
Amusing Observation
Alex got like 40 text messages last night. I am actually really annoyed with the distraction that mobile phones have created at kava time. Most people here have the ones that play music, which as you know irritates the shit out of me (exception: slow reggae or slow string band played low), but the texting is worse. The glow of the screen on someone's face, and the fact that whatever story you were in the middle of is on pause because some asshole wants to know how many shells of kava they've had are also irritating features of the mobile.
Kava In The News
Vanuatu's new soft drink with added kava
ELIZABETH JACKSON: In Vanuatu there's a new soft drink now on the market - Lava Cola. It's a cola drink with a kava additive. It produces the calming effect of kava without the muddy taste.
Sean Dorney went to the factory on the outskirts of Port Vila to see the drink being made and to speak to the people who are hoping they can create a brand-new international market. They'll advertise it as the alternative to high energy drink - the anti-energy drink.
SEAN DORNEY: Vanuatu kava is the most potent in the Pacific. It is definitely an acquired taste.
CAMERON MCLEOD: For those who aren't used to it or don't like the taste or who are new to the taste of kava it's a little intimidating and it's not pleasant.
SEAN DORNEY: Cameron McLeod is the Marketing Manager for a Vanuatu-based company called Unique Exports.
CAMERON MCLEOD: It's not wine; you don't drink it for its aroma or taste.
SEAN DORNEY: But now there is a new way to get the kava effect - out of a soft drink bottle.
JAMES ARMITAGE: I developed a water-based kava extract about 18 months ago. No-one's managed to do it previously.
SEAN DORNEY: James Armitage developed the product.
ARMITAGE: And so we decided to approach Vanuatu Beverage and try it out primarily with the cola. The kava cola has turned out to be a really good hit locally.
SEAN DORNEY: James Armitage and his colleague, Cameron McLeod, have lived in Vanuatu for years and they witnessed the collapse of the country's kava export industry.
Kava pills were banned by the European Union more than a decade ago because of side effects like liver damage, now attributed to former extraction methods, where not only the kava root but also the stems of the plant were used in the manufacturing process.
CAMERON MCLEOD: The EU ban on kava really took the wind out of the local kava economy.
SEAN DORNEY: Cameron McLeod.
CAMERON MCLEOD: That's probably understating it. It really, really smashed it.
SEAN DORNEY: James Armitage claims his extraction method avoids the previous pitfalls.
JAMES ARMITAGE: Most people until now have been using alcohol extraction and that's been the cause of liver problems as you may know in the past. It's just something through trial and error - I've been playing around with kava for 20 years - just we hit it; found the holy grail so to speak.
CAMERON MCLEOD: The future for kava is in a value-added product, specifically one where you can taste kava and get the effect of kava without that muddy, horrible taste that's normally associated with it.
SEAN DORNEY: James Armitage claims that kava cola achieves that.
JAMES ARMITAGE: The taste is actually quite refreshing. There's no muddy taste; you don't want to spit afterwards, which is quite unusual. As you know yourself you go to a kava bar and everybody's, you know, spitting.
You don't have that feeling, you don't have the stomach bloating associated with drinking large volumes of kava and, you know, four or five of these bottles of kava and a lot of people are pretty zonked.
SEAN DORNEY: They are sourcing their kava from one island in Vanuatu, Maewo, and the local Member of Parliament, Philip Boedoro, says the move into soft drink has been a real boon to his people.
PHILIP BOEDORO: People back home, like the communities, are very happy. They're very happy with what we are doing and they can see the, you know, the funds… the cash flowing back to their community.
CAMERON MCLEOD: A good friend of mine who I do drink kava with quite often explains it in that it's similar to a very mild, liquid valium.
JAMES ARMITAGE: There's a couple of other companies out there doing something similar. They're only using dried kava powder for their extract; they're not using anything nearly as potent as what we're using here.
And we're hoping that we can value-add the kava here and produce it here and export the syrup to overseas, but the United States is a monster market.
SEAN DORNEY: In the short term though, the next target markets for their kava soft drink - Lava Cola - are nearby Fiji and New Caledonia.
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