Kava is like a combination of weed, booze, and caffeine,” the barista behind the counter informed me on my second visit to Tropikava Kafe and Juice Bar. A chalkboard on the wall described it as a “magical root” from the South Pacific, Hawaii, Fiji, and Tonga. WebMD, on the other hand, warns that it can cause liver damage, concluding, “Kava is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth. Don’t use it.” (Emphasis theirs.)
Anna and the bartender discuss how drinking kava just seems to make everything better. It’s Anna’s third visit, and she’s a fan. The book in front of her is Getting Stoned With Savages, author J. Maarten Troost’s chronicle of drinking kava with the natives on the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji. The barista had never heard of kava before she responded to a Craigslist job posting and started working at Tropikava, but she’s also a convert. My mouth goes numb as I sip from the coconut shell—which is normal, apparently—but otherwise I don’t feel any different. Supposedly, kava has a “reverse tolerance,” meaning that people drinking it for the first time feel its effects less acutely than those who’ve had it before. I order a “shot” (which is actually about four ounces of liquid) of the Vanuatuan strain of kava, which according to the menu provides an “uplifting euphoric energy.”
Returning to Tropikava a few days later to work on this article, I overhear the owner explaining kava to a potential customer who’s asked if it produces hallucinations: It’s calming, he says, giving you a sense of euphoria and a little of the buzz you’d get from alcohol, but you can stay focused. He drinks it during the day while working, but at night “a glass of wine or two and a couple shells of kava will treat you real well,” he says. “It’ll have you floating.”
1115 N. Hermitage 773-840-7774tropikava.com
