How to drink kava or yaqona in Fiji
Fiji’s national drink is
yaqona (pronounced yan-gon-na), or “kava” as it is known in other Pacific Islands. In Fiji they also often refer to it by the
nickname “grog.” Made from the root of
the pepper tree, which grows only in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, yaquona is bitter
and potent. I’ve heard yaqona described
best as tasting like “peppery puddle water.”
It is non-alcoholic but has mild narcotic properties when taken over a
prolonged period and in large quantities, and the United States F.D.A. warns of
a possible link between kava and liver failure.
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| learning how to drink kava or yaqona in Fiji |
Fijians consider it the drink
of the Lord and start drinking it at around age 21. In Fiji, the root is a form of currency.
Traditionally, when visiting a village a guest brings a gift of kava
roots to the chief as a sign of respect.
Sometimes villagers, visitors, and the chief sit on the bure floor while
the chief conducts a blessing ceremony, and sometimes the roots are then pounded
into a drink that is then distributed in one large bowl from which everyone
drinks in a welcome ceremony indicating goodwill and hospitality. Pounding drums sometimes also accompany the
ceremony. On my visit to Fiji, I
encountered this ceremony numerous times in many different ways—even in a
demonstration at a resort shopping center!
This is the etiquette of drinking yaqona:
●Don’t sip it.
●When the bowl is presented
to you, cup your hands and clap them together once.
●Accept the bowl and say,
“Bula!,” or “Vinaka” (thanks).
●If it is a large bowl meant
for a group, drink one gulp down fast.
If it is a small bowl for one person, drink it all down fast.
●Clap three more times and
say, “Maca!”
●Return the bowl to the same
person.
●Women sit with legs to the side
only. No one should point their feet at
a chief or the kava bowl.
●Women can ask for a smaller
“low-tide” serving.
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