A smooth, creamy milkshake. A cold fizzy soda. Fresh fruit juice. Fresh fruit smoothie, chai tea, or latte.
You may not ever associate these delicious treats with kava, but guess what? The days of pinching your nose, chugging down your kava mixture and chasing it with a lemon or pineapple are over. Here are seven ways to prepare a strong kava tea recipe that you'll actually enjoy.
Kava can be purchased in a variety of forms to make it easy for you to blend with your favorite additives.
Below are nine ways you can prepare a kava tea recipe to your liking. With these recipes, you'll finally get to fully enjoy your kava experience.
Kava Shake
Chowhound offers a recipe for making a kava milkshake that sounds so sweet and kind of like a slushy. You know those awesome, semi-icy, semi-shake drinks you can get at convenience stores? Yes, those are the ones.
By mixing kava, water, coconut milk, cocoa powder, sugar and ice, you can have one of these treats in your home. This kava tea recipe is incredibly simple, and involves objects commonly found in your kitchen!
Kava Smoothie
Find yourself missing the beach? Or do you just love tropical fruit everything, from candy to drinks? Then you are in luck. This kava tea recipe makes it feel as if you're on vacation!
Mixing kava with bananas, pineapples and orange juice, you are on your way to a kava tropical smoothie. Add milk and ice, blend and enjoy.
Kava Spiced Chai
Just reading the ingredients makes you feel a little more relaxed. In a pot, boil water, kava, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and any other spices you love. Strain this hot mixture to get rid of any leafy pieces.
Then, add the strained mixture to hot milk. Sip and wait for sweet relaxation.
This kava tea recipe can get even easier by using instant chai. Mix your kava and instant chai, and you have a kava spiced chai!
Kava Kool-Aid
Take a trip down memory lane with your favorite Kool-Aid flavor in this kava tea recipe. Only, prepare for adult calming effects. It’s the best of both worlds.
You can use Kool-Aid mixes or go for the frozen fruit juices to mix with water, ginger and instant kava. Mix well and share with your friends.
Sparkling Kava
Love sparkling water? Want to love it more? Try this sparkling kava tea recipe. Using oranges and lemons, maple syrup, ice and of course, instant kava, you can create a fizzy drink that makes you tingle.
Okay, so the tingling may be causes specifically by the kava that creates a numbing effect on your tongue to let you know its working. It also tells you good vibes are headed your way, soon.
Kava Chocolates
Okay, so this is not a drink. But once you have these kava chocolate diamonds you won’t even be thinking about thirst.
A spin on the traditional chocolate candies, this is one of the easiest treats to make. Mix chocolate, nuts and kava. Pour into molds, miniature cupcake holders or just wing it with some parchment paper. Put them in the fridge until hardened.
Another twist is to add caramel to the mix and turn them into kava turtles.
Original Kava Tea Recipe
You may be the type who wants to experience kava in its most original form, even if the taste is bad. You are not alone. Many prefer to drink kava without masking its flavor.
Unless you are currently in the Pacific Islands with access to the roots of the piper methysticum plant, you will need to purchase noble kava root powder.
This powder comes directly from the kava root plant. However, it has been pounded and crushed before packaging it and shipping it to you. This keeps it fresh for exporting it around the world.
The process involves mixing kava powder with water in a kava strainer. Use your hands to knead the mixture, combining the water and the kava. The liquid created from mixing the kava and water is strained into a separate bowl. The strained liquid is what you will drink.
Why Kava Can be Mixed
Kava is an herb. And just like any other herb, it can be mixed with any other product. When added, the taste of the product doesn’t change as much as the effects do. You can take a regular orange juice that gives you no effects and turn it into a kava orange juice that mellows you out while keeping you mentally clear.
Kava has no known negative effects, holding true for over three thousand years. You do not even need to worry about after effects since kava has not shown to give a person hangover symptoms.
Effects to Expect
Kava, mixed with any other ingredients, can have positive effects. Depending on the type of kava you purchase, you may experience relaxation, easing of tensions in your muscles, hyper-awareness, and a feeling of wanting to socialize with others.
Other varieties of kava can create a greater effect of sedation, while some give users energy. The best way to determine the effect you will receive is to work with a good kava supplier.
Kava Suppliers
A good kava supplier can offer you a range of kava products. They can help you pick out kava in its most original form. They can also educate you on how kava can vary from the region in which it was harvested, how it was harvested, and how it was exported for you to enjoy.
You also want to know you are getting the right dose, not too high and not too low, for the affects you desire.
Good kava suppliers offer a wide variety of products for you to try, including many of the recipes listed here.
While kava powder is the most popular product, manufacturers have found creative ways to process and sell kava.
Kava drinks that are pre-made and sold in liquid form are also available. Kava paste is another product that is rising in popularity. The thick paste form gives you a higher concentration in a much smaller dose.
Whatever kava mixture you desire, it is likely available. To make sure you get the right results, work with a supplier who is a member of the American Kava Association.
They will be happy to help you reach your kava goals.
Now that you know seven ways to prepare your favorite kava tea recipe, you can enjoy your kava in many different ways. BULA!