Key Information
Superior Papua New Guinea Koniak Kava
Blended Cultivar Kava - Madang Short + Madang Long
Chemotype: 256 / 254
Potency: ~10%
Characteristics: Mentally sedating - Strongly physically relaxing - Long lasting
Our Superior Papua New Guinea Koniak Kava is back by popular demand! This is a legendary kava that was a community favorite among Kava Connoisseurs. We've brought this kava back to the market after several years of "Tudei" scares by trumpeters and trolls who have never seen a kava plant, that have since been debunked. Fiji imports 100,000kgs of this material annually for Grog Swipers across Fiji to drink straight or blend into their kava to stiffen up their shell and sometimes soil their grass mats!
Our Superior Koniak is the result of several years of of collaboration with the largest Papua growers and processors, to produce a smooth, drinkable, moderate Flavokavain content kava that consumers can safely enjoy when they need a reliable heavily physically sedating kava that lasts well beyond a daily drinking kava. Through this lengthy collaboration, a private Papua Kava Standard was created in which only certain cultivars from certain regions may be used and only after they undergo proprietary processing techniques that were developed to yield a medium potency, moderate flavokavain content kava that can be safely consumed.
Papua New Guinea has domesticated several cultivars of Papua New Guinea kava or “Kau” as it is called locally, from its wild predecessor Piper witchmanii. It has been well documented by early explorers of Papua that Kava drinking existed at the time of European contact in Madang as well as the Manus region in Lou, Buluan, Pam, Rambutyo, and the Fedarb Islands, as well as along the Rai Coast and some areas of the Ramu River and the Bagabag and Kar Kar Islands. From these Kava drinking regions of Paupa, several varieties of Papau New Guinea Kava have been domesticated including Madang Short, Madang Tall, Manus Green, Manus Pink, Manus Tall, Daru, among others.
This is to say that Papuans intentionally selected and planted these cultivars for the purpose of consumption over the course of thousands of years through a painstaking process of deliberate selection from wild Piper witchmanii plants, and represents a remarkable and unique kava from all others. According to groundbreaking DNA marker research conducted by Vandenbrouke et al. in 2015, the Madang Short and Madang Long cultivars (locally known as "ISA") are neither noble nor tudei kava. Instead, and instead took their own distinct evolutionary path, separate from all other Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian kava varieties, while still being true Piper methysticum. This genetic uniqueness explains why Madang Short and Madang Long deliver an experience unlike any other kava on the market—they're literally in a category of their own and have been continuously planted and consumed from introduction until the present day.
The cultivars in this blend are known as Madang Short and Madang Long, These "ISA" type cultivars, are renown throughout PNG and parts of Fiji for its piney taste and strong, relaxing, long lasting effects. Our Koniak Blend is untamed and consistently tests between 8-10% total Kavalactones with a very physically sedating 254 / 256 chemotype. This is to say that this kava is high in Dihydromethysitcin (DHM), Dihydrokavain (DHK), which are 2 and 4 times the potency of their single bonded counterparts methysticin and Kavain, making it perfect for soothing a tired body and mind.
This Papua New Guinea Koniak Kava powder is quite potent, lasts longer, and has a stronger physically relaxing and pleasant afterglow which MAY, but not always, last into the next day. If you’re looking for a light, social, heady, noble Kava experience, this is not the Kava for you. If, on the other hand, you’ve ever wanted to experience the strongly sedating effects of Papua New Guinea Kava, this is an excellent opportunity to do so.