Berry Kava Gummies

Kava is Piper methysticum, probably domesticated in northern Vanuatu roughly 3,000 years ago and carried across Oceania as stem cuttings by generations of Pacific growers and voyagers. Vanuatu remains a center of kava diversity, with named cultivars grown on islands including Ambae, Maewo, Pentecost, Espiritu Santo, Malekula, and Tanna.

Kava belongs to many distinct Indigenous traditions rather than one generic “island” culture. Ni-Vanuatu communities maintain island- and community-specific practices, often connected with the nakamal. iTaukei Fijians know kava as yaqona; Tongans gather around kava in formal ceremonies and social faikava; Samoans have their own ʻava ceremonies and protocols. Native Hawaiians know the plant as ʻawa, while Pohnpeians prepare sakau.

Traditional kava drinks are made from roots and rhizomes worked with cool water and strained. Across distinct Pacific cultures, people drink kava in ceremonial, diplomatic, social, and everyday settings, including for its calming and relaxing psychoactive effects. Kavalactones are the principal compounds that produce those effects. The drink is earthy, bitter, and peppery and can temporarily numb the mouth. Berry Kava Gummies turn kava extract into a soft mixed-berry chew that masks much of that earthy, peppery taste.