THE natural growth and common appreciation of kava in the United States of America and Europe has been appreciated by a beverage company in South Carolina
Kava Konnection owner Gabriel Coggins says it is comforting to know that more and more people are learning of it and accepting it as a good social beverage option.
Mr Coggins says the kava community deserves praise already and we want to help grow it here in South Carolina.
Kava Konnection is a new bar that recently opened on Greenville’s Wade Hampton Boulevard, but this bar does not sell alcohol. Instead, it features a drink native to the South Pacific — kava.
Kava changed Mr Coggins life for the better.
“A few years later we decided Greenville South Carolina, my hometown, was in need of a kava bar and here we are today!” he said in an interview with this newspaper.
“My Mom and I chose kava mainly because of the impact it had on me personally.
“Growing up my father was an alcoholic so genetically I had a predisposition towards abusing it.”
This, however, did not stop him from drinking alcohol.
“I started in high school after my father died, at age 15. I quickly saw that I was on a dangerous and destructive path.
“At 19 I gave up drinking and shortly after I found kava and learned of its wonderful properties.”
Kava, he says has inspired him in many different ways.
“Firstly, it has shown me a life without alcohol and how one can go out and have a fun enjoyable evening without having to get drunk.”
Additionally, he says kava has shown him its powerful capability for building a community, one that involves socialising and friendship and happiness.
“Kava is about love and community and we are seeing this in our kava bar which is a great thing to witness.”
Kava Konnection source kava from a few reputable sources based out of the US.
“We wanted to ensure that we were getting only noble kava varieties and felt that purchasing from a middleman was the most beneficial for us.”
As they grow, they plan to source directly from the islands.
He says they presently carry cultivars from Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Hawaii.
“While we aren’t sourcing directly from Fiji yet, we plan to in the future. Once we are able to, we hope to establish a good relationship with a farmer and begin sourcing direct.”
He adds there is little knowledge of kava in South Carolina which is ironic considering they are right next to Florida, possibly the largest concentration of US kava bars.
“Slowly but surely we are growing the demand here in the States, however, it is something that we are having to work to build. A lot of people here are kava lovers now but they just didn’t know it before us.”
Mr Coggins has actually had trouble establishing a target customer.
“Our customer base has been extremely diverse which has been interesting.
“We are seeing that kava has an appeal to all walks of life and isn’t limited to a specific age, race or belief.
“Possibly my favourite thing about owning and working at our kava bar is seeing the interaction between all of these various people — interaction that under most circumstances, wouldn’t occur.”
“It is refreshing and comforting to see it happen over drinking kava together.”
While they still have a lot to do with establishing their kava bar, his mother Debbie Coggins certainly wants to expand their own products.
“We would love to see kava become a common beverage here in the States.
“We have some ideas for fun, enjoyable products in the near future that we hope to bring to market.”
For him, he says kava has been a wonderful way to relax his mind and body without hindering him.
“I am a high stress and high energy person so something like kava has been life changing for me.
“It is nice to know I can have a few shells of kava at the end of the day (or during if needed haha!) and take the edge off. I’ve seen many so far that have noticed kava’s ability to aid with sleep too.
“Kava has had a lot of scientific research speaking on its relaxing and calming properties in addition to its ability to aid with sleep.”
Presently, he says they have a few reputable middlemen in terms of kava source.
“We felt this would be more helpful initially regarding controlling quality and consistency of our kava. Our sources test their kava and ensure that they are not only noble kava varieties but of high quality.”
“While we haven’t had too much of an issue with this, there have been a few times where we were worried we wouldn’t be able to get kava from a particular region. For example, when Vanuatu was hit by the cyclone last year, we were concerned we wouldn’t be able to source Vanuatu cultivars for a while.”
He adds there are a few other cities in South Carolina they would like to be first. And also targeting other states is ultimately a long-term goal.
