Everything a kava bar serves, from traditional shell preparation through to finished spirits by the case — and an honest view of which format suits which service model.
The enquiries we get from kava bars have changed. Alongside the usual questions about grind and consistency, more venues are asking how to put kava into cocktails, elixirs and signature serves — building a menu rather than pouring shells.
There are two good ways to get there. You can formulate with our nano-emulsified formats, which give exact dosing and full control of the recipe. Or you can pour a finished product and skip formulation altogether. Which suits you depends on the kind of drinks programme you are running — this page covers all three service models, including the one most bars do not realise is open to them.
Kneaded, strained and served by the shell — the format the kava bar was built around, and still the cheapest per serve of anything we supply.
Whole-root noble kava, milled fine enough to release kavalactones efficiently but coarse enough to hold in a strainer bag. Fijian material runs smoother for long sessions; Vanuatuan carries a bolder profile and a higher kavalactone yield.
Water-soluble and served without a strainer bag, for venues that need to turn a serve around faster or run kava service alongside a busy food menu. Keeps a traditional compositional profile.
Where a bar wants a menu rather than a bowl — and where dosing has to be precise, because a mixed drink gives the customer no way to judge strength for themselves.
Our nano-emulsified formats solve the dosing problem properly. Nano liquid meters straight into a drink with no dispersion step, and nano powder carries ten times the concentration in a shelf-stable dry format. Both are engineered for high bioavailability and exact, repeatable doses.
They do come with a workflow. Nano liquid keeps refrigerated once opened, and both formats need accurate measurement at serve level — nano powder disperses best with a frother or similar. That is routine in a venue set up for it. If it is more process than you want for a handful of kava serves, there is a second route worth knowing about.
The option most bars do not realise is available to them: skip formulation entirely and pour a finished product.
Kavayn is our own noble kava spirit line, made from the same Pacific Island material we supply as an ingredient. It is sold to consumers in the United States — and it is available to venues wholesale, by the case.
For a bar building a cocktail menu, that changes the maths. Every bottle carries a known kavalactone content per measure, so dosing is a pour rather than a calculation. There is no dispersion step, no cold chain, no dosing equipment, and no staff training beyond what any bar already does with a spirit.
At current wholesale pricing it also works out at a lower cost per serve than the nano formats. Whether that matters depends on your programme — a bar building bespoke recipes may well prefer the control the nano formats give. Run your numbers on the cost per serve calculator, which prices every format against a target kavalactone dose using live wholesale rates.
Set a target kavalactone dose and compare traditional grind, instant powder, the nano formats and finished Kavayn spirits on what a single serve actually costs — at live wholesale prices.
Experience the Kavain difference. Request a sample today and discover why leading formulators trust us for their kava supply.