Kava Tea: Pros and Cons

The first recorded statements on the pros and cons of kava tea appeared in the log of Captain James Cook. His boat stopped at the island we now call Tonga in October of 1773. Cook was then in the second of his three round-the-world voyages. He had must come north from an exploration of the Antarctic.

The natives who prepared Cook's kava drink did not have a good tool to use for mashing the kava root. In the absence of such a tool, the natives chewed the root, and then spit the chewed pulp into bowls. The other members of Cook's crew saw that preparation method as a big minus. They did not try any of the kava drink.

Cook was more daring. He tasted the kava drink. In his journal, Cook later described that drink as "flat and insipid." Cook appreciated the time and effort that had gone into the preparation of that kava drink. He understood the significance of being viewed as a guest, a guest who was worthy of receiving such a special drink.

Eventually other members of Cook's crew must have gathered up enough courage to try some kava drink. Cook's surgeon offered one pro comment for that drink in his own journal. He made reference to the drink's ability to cause "stupefaction."

Today, the inhabitants of Tonga make a kava drink, but they do not employ the same method used by their ancestors. They have a tool that they use to smash the kava root, and then they strain the smashed root. While that preparation method is definitely more sanitary, it does not make the kava drink any more appealing or tasty.

Tony Horowitz, a writer who has tasted the Tongan kava drink, did not have good words for the drink's appearance. He claimed that it looked like "old dishwater." Horowitz drank his beverage from a coconut shell. He has described the beverage's flavor as "faintly bitter and peppery."

The chemicals in kava tea are said to relax the nervous system. They are praised as a cure for anxiety and depression. A drink of kava tea can depress the appetite, a big plus for someone who wants to loose weight.

Kava tea can also remove the discomfort of cramps and spasms.