Rooting for Kava Tea
Now the word kava can be very perplexing. Kava kava, or just kava, is not only a plant but also a beverage that is prepared from the kava plant’s roots. Kava is called Piper methysticum in Latin, which translates into English as “intoxicating pepper”. The Kava plant is widely cultivated in the Micronesian, Melanesian, and Polynesian islands. The Vanuatuan Republic is the world’s leading producer and largest source of kava.
The debate whether kava tea is actually a tea or not has to be looked into. Now the actual meaning of tea generally refers to any of the many beverages that are prepared by the extraction of an infusion or placing the leaves of particular plants steeped in water. A majority of tea definitions also cover a mention of boiling the water. However, Kava tea is not prepared from the kava plant leaves or by way of boiling water.
Besides, Kava tea is definitely not consumed from a teacup, whatever the event. Perhaps, deep in the Tanna jungles of the Vanuatuan Republic, this can pass muster and considered to be the right thing. However, the kava tea that is brewed here is so powerful and rich that it is not advisable to drink more than a single cup unless you are a veteran in drinking this particular kind of tea. In case you tend to make light of this sound advice, then you should certainly prime yourself to be borne back to your dwelling place by the tribeswomen, just the way the chap on Survivor 9 was carried in Vanuatu.
Coming down to brass tacks, is kava kava tea, strictly a tea in the first place? This is definitely a fair query and needs to be resolved one way or the other.
In reality, the kava beverage can in all fairness be labeled as kava tea since a part of the tea definition covers the extraction of an infusion. Now, the infusion refers to the liquid produced as a result of soaking a desired material in order to extract the flavor. For the preparation of kava kava tea, the infusion of ground kava root in water is carried out. The kavalactones, or the active ingredients within the kava roots are then mechanically extracted by using a strainer to press out the infused kava mixture. Now, the liquid so generated is nothing but kava tea. When we normally drink tea, we are aware that the specific variety of tea that is used is actually solely extracted by means of dissolution in water and is not squeezed mechanically from a tea ball or tea bag. So, in the future, if someone inquires of you whether kava tea can be typically classified as a tea, firmly let him or her know that of course, kava tea is indeed a tea. By virtue of the tea definition, kava tea can be referred to as a tea although the recipe makes no mention of boiling the water or steeping the leaves. To those who strongly oppose our viewpoint, we wish to state that it is perhaps best to describe kava tea as purely an herbal tea. This definitely should come as some comfort to these ardent critics of kava tea.
Next, we need to address the matter of placing the roots of kava plants into boiling water just the way tea in tea bags is immersed. The kava holds active ingredients known as kava lactones. Now, these kavalactones are extremely sensitive chemicals. It is not advisable to expose them to high temperatures as is found in boiling water. If so subjected, the active ingredients tend to be destroyed. Now if the kava tea’s active ingredients are removed, then it makes no sense to consume this beverage, apart from squandering your money. It is simply mindless and there is no value to be obtained from drinking it.
