What you’ll need: How to make kava – Super Charge technique. 

• Australia Kava Shop Kava Powder
• Australia Kava Shop straining bag
• Warm Water
• Full Cream Milk or other full-cream dairy product
• Food Processor/Blender
• Preparation bowl, serving bowl, ladle and some music! 
• 40 minutes – but only 15 of those of actual work.

How to prepare kava traditional style

How to make kava – Traditional Style . What you’ll need:

• Australia Kava Shop Kava Powder
• Australia Kava Shop straining bag
• Warm Water
• Preparation bowl, serving bowl, ladle and some music! 

Method 1: Traditional Kava Preparation

To many of the indigenous Pacific Island cultures where kava grows, the kava preparation is just as important as its consumption  The ritual involved with preparation adds to its value as a medicine and for ceremonial purposes.

Kava is great for stress reduction, sleep promotion, or spiritual exploration, so we strongly recommend you give it a go the traditional way at first. The extra 10 or 15 minutes it takes to prepare in this way helps to put you in a relaxed and mindful state.

The traditional method we discuss here is as close to the real process used by the Pacific Islanders (including Hawaii) as possible.  However, there is one difference.  Some Vanuatu kava preparation traditions include chewing up the roots and spitting it out again to make the tea.  As you can imagine, your friends or family who will be drinking your tea, might prefer to use our pre-powdered kava root instead. We promise, the results are the same as chewing and it is a far more sanitary way of preparing your brew. 

With that aside, let’s explore the process of the traditional way!

Things You’ll Need To Make Your Traditional Kava Tea:

• A strainer bag (muslin bag)
• High-grade ground kava root
• Warm water
• Medium-to-large bowl to mix kava in
• Small cups to drink from
• A small kitchen scale

Step 1 – Measure Out The Kava Root Powder

The first step is to measure out the dose of kava. The dose can vary from one person to the next, but a standard dose is about 10 grams per person. If you would like to have some extra kava tea ready for use a few hours later, we recommend doubling this amount.

Weighing the kava on a scale is by far the most accurate way to measure it.  However, if you don’t have a lot of time or access to measuring utensils, you can also measure with a flat tablespoon. 10 grams is equivalent to roughly 3 or 4 flat tablespoons, but of course, this will depend on how finely the kava powder is ground. For example, micronized kava is closer to 2 tablespoons per 10-gram dose.  Therefore, it’s always best to double-check the type of kava you have before starting the preparation process.

Step 2 – Fill The Strainer Bag With Kava

Once you’ve measured out the kava, put it in your strainer bag. Not sure what strainer bag you need?  Well, you have a few options to choose from for a good strainer.  The option that we recommend is the use of a muslin strainer bag.  Using a muslin strainer bag for your kava tea allows you to close the bag and tie it off to avoid spilling the powder as you knead the kava into the water.

If you don’t have a muslin bag, no worries.  You can also use a cheesecloth or even an old t-shirt. (Preferably washed of course!) or even pantyhose. You just have to be careful that the cloth doesn’t open up and spill all your powder into the bowl as you’re mixing in step four.  Place the strainer in the bowl when you’re finished.

Step 3- Add The Water to The Kava

The next step is to add the water.  Ideally, the water should be warm, or mildly hot.  We recommend that the hot water is about the same temperature as the hot water from your tap.  In Australia, this is approximately 50 degrees Celsius.

It’s important to not add boiling water here, because you won’t be able to mix it all together with your hands if it’s too hot to touch. water above 55 Celsius will also start to decompose the lactones, causing a reduction in potency. Traditionally, room temperature water is used.  When adding the water, you want to add roughly 4-5 times as much water in milliliters as kava in grams.  This means, our standard 10 gram dose of powder from the Australia Kava Shop would require roughly 40-50 mL of water. However, you can always add more or less water depending on your personal preferences. The less water you use, the stronger the brew will be. If you want your brew to have a milder effect profile, feel free to add more water.

Once you are ready, pour the water over the muslin bag full of  powder, and let it sit for about 5 minutes to absorb as much of the water as possible.

Step 4 – Mix Your Kava and Water

After you have let the kava sit in the water for a few minutes, you may notice the water is starting to develop a murky appearance. This is a good sign, the kavalactones are diffusing into the water.

Want to make a strong brew? Then you’ll need to spend a few minutes mixing – the more mixing/kneading time, the better.

Knead the kava-filled muslin bag or strainer into the water. You want to move the kava powder around the water as much as you can.  You can also do this by squeezing it with your hands.  All up, this will take about 5-10 minutes.

Once you’re done, you’ll notice that as you do this, the water will become murkier and will develop a light brown colour.  It might look like muddy water, but don’t worry, it won’t taste like it!

Step 5 -Time to Drink Your Kava!

Once you’ve finished kneading and mixing in the water for about 10 minutes, your kava is ready to drink.

Simply remove the strainer bag from the bowl and squeeze as much liquid out of the bag as possible before setting it aside. Now, don’t throw your strainer bag away! You can easily get two or three more washes of lower-strength kava out of this if you want. 

Helpful hint: You can throw your kava strainer bag in the freezer to keep it fresh and use it again another day.

With the strainer bag removed, you’re left with a bowl of fresh kava tea ready for drinking. So fill up your cup right away with some delicious fresh kava and start drinking!

Want to know the traditional way of drinking? You would take your small cup and scoop the kava brew out from the bowl. When drinking with friends, always fill their cups, before your own.

Not a fan of the taste of kava?  Another way you can prepare it is like ice tea.  This helps it go down easier. You can place the bowl in the fridge for an hour, or add the kava to a cup of ice to give it a smoother flavour.

Do you have a bit of a sweet tooth? Then you can also add in different sweeteners like honey or agave into your blend.  This may not be the traditional method of making kava tea, but honestly, there’s no right or wrong way to do this.  Do whatever you need to make drinking it enjoyable. 


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