Bula Kava House News

Hundreds of years ago on the tiny South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, legend has it that a young woman began arguing with her husband, Tamalie. When the argument turned heated, the woman ran from Tamalie, seeking safety in the lush jungle that surrounded the village. Seeing that her husband had followed in pursuit, the young woman frantically climbed to the top of the tallest tree she could find. But even that could not stop Tamalie from following, as he began making his way to the top of the tree, leaping from branch to branch. Left with no other option,...

With the negative perception of tudei kava with some in the kava research community, we are happy to have a hand in the promotion of the growing of noble kavas in Vanuatu. We understand that if we demand it, they will grow more. In the long term that will mean a healthy supply of noble kava, which will therefore decrease price, increase the success of the South Pacific kava growers, and help ensure the legal status of kava. Through research over the last couple months, we've discovered that to a varying degree, some kava coming out of Vanuatu is tudei,...

A World Health Organization report has said that the United States is the most anxious nation on the globe. In fact, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the America, effecting up to 40 million adults or about 18% of the entire population. As more and more Americans are looking for safe and natural ways to deal with the pressures of modern society, they are turning to remedies embraced by cultures thousands of years old. A Little History of Kava Kava is one such natural option. This plant, also known as kava-kava, is native to the Pacific islands...

I finally got around to putting down some of the happenings during my recent journey to Vanuatu. Here is part one of that story: “What kind of kava bar owner has never been to the motherland of kava use and cultivation?” I asked myself in January of 2012. This simple question set in motion the planning for a late spring trip to Vanuatu, which was recently voted as “The Happiest Country on Earth” by one of the periodicals that attempts to quantify those things. Was this “business trip” partially an excuse for me to spend some days in a less...