Last fall, Ava Taesali opened Kava Queen, O‘ahu’s only brick-and-mortar kava bar, after three years of building a loyal following for this traditional beverage at farmers’ markets in Honolulu. Located in the repurposed Waialua Sugar Mill, former home of a sugar industry giant, the establishment is surrounded by a mix of local businesses that includes a yoga studio, a surf shop, and a sewing collective. The eclectic space reflects the North Shore’s laid-back, community vibe—a perfect backdrop for sipping the Polynesian brew. “Kava is meant to bring people together,” said Taesali.
Earthy, bitter, and tingly on the tongue, kava—‘awa in Hawaiian—calms the body without dulling the brain. “The only thing it numbs is your mouth,” said Taesali, a Samoan American whose first name, aptly, means kava in Samoan.
Kava, also known as Piper methysticum, is a perennial shrub with large, heart-shaped leaves. Its fibrous root, when crushed and steeped in water and massaged to release its essence, produces a cloudy, cool infusion traditionally served in an apu, or coconut-shell cup. Consumed in the South Pacific for at least 2,000 years for pleasure, relaxation, and in cultural and spiritual ceremonies, the drink holds deep significance in both Hawaiian mythology and Polynesian identity.
“This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty.”
Beyond its traditional ceremonial and social importance, kava’s calming effects have sparked new research into kavalactones, the plant’s active compounds known to reduce stress, as an anti-anxiety remedy. Studies have also found that the elixir may have broader medicinal potential, from anti-cancer benefits to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite these findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to embrace these benefits. A longstanding federal advisory memorandum labels kava as an “unsafe” ingredient and classifies it as “an unapproved food additive,” citing unresolved health concerns including potential liver damage and cancer.
The FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) designation deems substances safe to use in foods and beverages, covering everything from staples such as salt and vinegar to certain food dyes and other controversial additives. However, the FDA has withheld GRAS status from kava, classifying it instead as a dietary supplement alongside vitamins, herbs, and probiotics, subjecting it to stricter labeling requirements and health warnings—as well as lower consumer demand. Beyond limiting kava’s mainstream acceptance, the cautious stance has also cast a shadow over its reputation, overshadowing its deep-rooted significance in Polynesian culture.
Last year, however, Hawai‘i took matters into its own hands by labeling the root as GRAS. While states can’t overturn federal standards, they can set their own restrictions—California, for example, bans potassium bromate, a baking additive—or, as is the case here, make exceptions for certain substances.
By adopting the FDA term for safe-to-consume ingredients, the decision honors the plant’s cultural legacy. It also aligns with the international Codex Alimentarius, the food safety standard of the World Health Organization (WHO), which recognized the safety of traditional kava preparations in 2020, citing their cultural significance to Native Polynesians.
“This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty,” said Kristen Wong, an information specialist for the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH).
The Stigma Surrounding Kava
Advocates blame the kava controversy on widespread adulteration of the ingredient. In 2002, Germany banned the substance due to reports of liver toxicity, which were later traced to extracts mixed with kratom, a Southeast Asian herb linked to liver damage and addiction. Though the national ban was eventually lifted, the stigma lingers. “There are so many misconceptions about kava,” Taesali said, adding that official recognition is key to changing the narrative.
Kava has endured a long history of adversity, said Lakea Trask, a Hawaiian farmer and local activist who cultivates kava and other Native crops for Kanaka Kava, his family’s farm-to-table restaurant in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island. The plant has weathered centuries of hardship, he notes, from missionaries suppressing its use during colonization to the shift toward large-scale monocultures that crowded out Indigenous staples. The GRAS stamp is a long-overdue validation, he said, of kava’s importance to Hawaiian agriculture and identity.
As recognition grows, so have opportunities for small-scale farming initiatives and environmental restoration. By reviving Hawaiian self-sufficiency and healing the scars left by plantations, Trask said, “‘awa [presents] an opportunity to restore our sovereignty and our ancestral connection to the land.”
A History of Resilience
Polynesian settlers brought kava to Hawai‘i roughly 1,600 years ago, selecting it as a canoe plant—essential crops carried across the Pacific by ancestral voyagers—alongside taro (kalo), breadfruit (‘ulu), and other staples that fed, healed, and built thriving communities across the archipelago. Along with its ceremonial and medicinal role, kava was also an important social drink.
Yet by the 19th century, kava was headed toward obscurity. The rise of plantation agriculture uprooted Native communities, replacing local food systems with sprawling sugarcane and pineapple fields. “It’s the same story as all of our Indigenous crops,” said Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, a University of Hawai‘i (UH) associate professor at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and head of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory.
Despite these challenges, kava’s ability to thrive in sun, shade, and diverse soils enabled it to persist, mainly in the wild. Forty years ago, Edward Johnston, a leading kava expert and co-founder of the Association for Hawaiian ‘Awa (AHA), stumbled on a hidden patch of kava deep in the Big Island’s Waipi‘o Valley. Struck by its calming properties, he began collecting and propagating different varieties in his back yard, eventually offering them for sale at the newly established Hilo Farmers Market.
