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==News About Kava==
==News About Kava==
'''Kava and the Rise of Healthy New York'''
'''10 beer alternatives to drink this summer'''
*Source:http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/kava-and-the-rise-of-healthy-new-york
*Source:http://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/stories/10-beer-alternatives-drink-summer
:By Carrie Battan
:By Josh Lew


“ALCOHOL IS SO 2014. TRY KAVA,” suggests a sandwich board on Tenth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, in the East Village. Whether by design or not, this block has become a retro-futurist downtown cornucopia of health, wellness, and New Agey philosophy. It is home to, among other establishments, a lush and gaudy store that peddles healing crystals; the beloved Russian and Turkish baths; a store called the Molecule Project, which sells artisanal tap water squeezed of any impurity; and a place named Body Evolution, which boasts the “largest and most fully equipped GYROTONIC® studio in Manhattan.” And then there is Kavasutra, the block’s newest addition, specializing in drinks made from the root of a South Pacific-originated plant called kava. Designed like a real bar but booze-free, Kavasutra is a New York City experiment that asks its patrons to imagine the possibility of a cosmopolitan social life without alcohol.
Think of these options as beer's lighter, often gluten-free cousins.


This is an especially tall order. If you live in a city and are not a hermit, chances are your life necessitates a lot of drinking. Even if you are exceptionally self-disciplined and can limit yourself to one or two drinks, chances are you are still subjecting yourself to the risk of a hangover on a routine basis. Drinking is meant to be a ritualized opportunity to unwind, but it also produces the unintended stress of dealing with the side effects of booze. Unsurprisingly, alcohol has a profound and documented cumulative effect on work: a 2015 report from the C.D.C. estimated that drinking (and subsequent hangovers) created a drop in productivity that cost the U.S. economy ninety billion dollars in 2010.
Beer might be the alcoholic drink of choice for many American adults, but it can do a number on your waistline. And it’s not a friend of the gluten-free lifestyle, either. So as the temperatures rise, why not reach for a different chilled beverage from the beer family?


In the midst of any socio-professional drinking session, you often find yourself completing some crude cost-benefit analysis: How many drinks can I consume tonight without functioning poorly tomorrow? How can I loosen up right now without sacrificing tomorrow’s daytime productivity? Kava bars—of which there are now two in New York City—exist, ostensibly, to hack this problem. Kava drinks, used for centuries in ceremonial contexts throughout the South Pacific, are created by grinding the root of the plant into a powder and mixing it with water. Kava is legal and unregulated, and can be ordered online in the form of pills, which makes it popular among curious thrill-seeking college kids and vape connoisseurs. Its advertised effects are about the same as a cocktail: kava is a sedative used to relieve anxiety and relax the muscles. But, unlike alcohol, kava allegedly doesn’t interfere with any cognitive abilities, and, if you hydrate properly, it won’t give you a hangover.
There's an excitement that comes from trying something exotic — something totally different from the draft you usually order. These 10 alternatives to traditional beer come from all over the world. Some are well-known suds substitutes, while others are relatively unknown to drinkers in North America.


I visited Kavasutra on a recent Monday evening. The tiny, dimly lit bar, which can hold about twenty people, was packed despite the early hour. Patrons jockeyed for the attention of the lone bartender, who wore a T-shirt that said “RELAX.” A mix of reggae and contemporary pop played over the speakers, and a stomach-churning nature documentary (about insects) played on a giant TV behind the bar.
Raise a glass to these beer alternatives!


The bartender recommended that first-time kava drinkers (my friends and I) begin by ordering a bowl with a triple dose of kava. We obliged, and he instructed us to say “Bula!” (“good health”) and then chug the liquid as quickly as possible. The bartender went on to explain rather dubiously that kava drinkers experience “reverse tolerance”—meaning it requires a lot to experience kava’s effects the first few times. As your system gets good at processing kava, he told us, one needs less of it to achieve the same effects. “But don’t worry,” he assured us. “You can’t really get fucked up on kava.” (He also told us that people on kava tend to become really chatty.) All this information about how to consume a drink that was supposed to relieve anxiety began to make me feel a little anxious. And then there was the actual drink: a putrid liquid that resembled dirt mixed with milk. Chugging was absolutely necessary. After this initial round, we stuck to small kava shots, which were mixed with fruit flavors and much easier to digest.
:Kvass


Increasingly, it feels as though New York is attempting to reconcile its booze-hounding tendencies with its newfound, almost Los Angelesque obsession with health and wellness. If you’re so inclined, you can attend a 6 A.M. sober rave. You can take late-night candlelit yoga or go out dancing until the wee hours of the morning with a collective like the Clean Fun Network. “Drynuary” is now a word that can be uttered without giving anyone pause; sober happy hours and neighborhood juice crawls abound. There have never been so many healthful activities disguised as debauchery. Everywhere, it seems, New Yorkers are trying to have old-school fun by unconventional means. Kava is certainly part of this wave, and it seems to be successful. Kavasutra has a number of other bars in the U.S.—most of them in Florida—but in just a few months, the bartender informed me, the New York City location has outpaced all other locations in popularity.
Kvass has been popular in Russia for centuries. It’s made by soaking bread (often rye) in water and adding yeast and sugar to start the fermentation process, and additions like honey, raisins or mint can be added for flavor, NPR reports. Kvass ferments for only a few days, and the resulting beverage has an alcohol content between one and three percent. In Russia, it’s often considered a non-alcoholic drink. During the summer in kvass-drinking Eastern Europe, the beverage is often served on the street out of a large barrel on wheels.


I can see why someone would be drawn to the allure of kava. And, after downing a few kava drinks, I did experience some of its promised effects: I felt physically relaxed, a little numb. But I also felt a bit foggy, mentally, and nauseated because of the excess of foreign liquid I’d put in my body. I was just about to leave for dinner—where I’d be skipping drinks altogether—but the kava had caused me to lose my appetite. Later that night, I was still feeling somewhat murky, and I floated home wondering what part of the experience was mental and what the kava had actually made me feel. I slept well, and had some particularly strange dreams. I woke up feeling a little queasy and confused by what I’d experienced, but mostly normal. Had I sought health or vice? Had I done something good or bad for myself? I wished I had some indication—the slightest twinge of a hangover, maybe—to help me figure it out.
Kvass has a distinctly sour taste. The acid produced by the fermentation and the low pH are supposed to be good for your health because they encourage good bacteria to grow while killing bad bacteria. Mass-produced kvass does not have this bacterial makeup, but some artisans are trying to revive traditional brewing methods which allow them to create a drink closer to one produced in Eastern Europe for centuries.
 
:Kombucha
 
Kombucha is a fermented tea that, like kvass, has probiotics that may be good for your gut health, as The Washington Post explains. The drink, which can be made from either black or green tea, was traditionally prepared at home, but commercially produced varieties are now available in North America and Europe (often in health food stores). The first uses of kombucha go back several centuries to China, Eastern Europe, Russia and Japan. Now, however, it is consumed throughout the world.
 
It’s often called “mushroom tea” because a mushroom-like mass forms during the fermentation process. The term kombucha is believed to come from the Japanese, although it could be a mistranslation because the closest Japanese word, konbucha, is a kind of seaweed tea. Like kvass, kombucha has an alcohol content lower than beer, though some homemade and small batch varieties can approach the strength of beer. Varieties that are sold off the shelf as health tonics must have an alcohol content of less than 0.5 percent to avoid being designated as alcoholic beverages in the United States.
 
:Mead
 
Mead is a distinctive beverage made from honey. Unlike kvass and kombucha, it is usually stronger than beer, with an alcohol content more similar to wine (between 6 and 20 percent). Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages — there are mentions of honey wines in both Ancient Greek and Ancient Indian literature. A chemical analysis of pottery dating back 8,000 years showed traces of mead-like substances.
 
Despite never gaining the popularity of wine, mead is enjoyed in Eastern and Northern Europe, and a more-traditional variety of honey-based alcohol is popular in East Africa. In North America, small artisan mead producers have been somewhat successful in bringing the ancient drink back into the public consciousness and giving people an alternative to both beer and grape-based wines.
 
:Kava
 
The kava plant is easily recognizable because of its heart-shaped leaves. To kava drinkers, however, the most important part of the plant is its root. Unlike all the other beer substitutes on our list, this one does not contain alcohol. Traditionally, kava is drunk in the South Pacific regions of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. When prepared correctly, a tea-like beverage containing the root produces a sedative-like effect. In Polynesian tradition, it is thought to give this relaxed feeling without lessening mental clarity. Because of this, kava is sometimes given religious or ceremonial significance.
 
Though kava is banned by some countries, it is often used by Western herbalists to treat anxiety. There is currently no ban on the root in the United States, and kava bars are popping up around the country in places with large Polynesian populations and even in hip New York City neighborhoods, as the New York Daily News reports.
 
:Cider
 
Cider, which is often referred to as “hard cider” to differentiate it from the jugs of juice you buy at apple orchards in the fall, is most popular in the U.K., Ireland and parts of continental Europe, but it has fans in the United States and Canada, too. Cider is arguably the most popular beer alternative because it has a similar alcohol content, but is gluten-free and often has fewer carbs and calories.
 
The process of making cider traditionally starts by mashing the apples in a press before fermenting the juice in barrels or vats for at least three months. Some varieties are fermented for much longer, resulting in a higher alcohol content and a different flavor than younger ciders. Like beer, many artisan cider makers produce smaller batches of high quality product, paying special attention to creating unique “trademark” flavors. Mass-produced varieties like Strongbow, from the U.K., and Magners, from Ireland, are exported worldwide.
 
:Ginger beer
 
There are two varieties of ginger beer. One is non-alcoholic and carbonated with carbon dioxide. The other, often branded as “alcoholic ginger beer” to distinguish it from the soft drink, is a fermented beverage originally popularized in the U.K. but is now sold all over the world.
 
Crabbie’s Ginger Beer, first produced in Edinburgh, is exported to North America. At 4.8 percent alcohol by volume, it has a strength similar to beer. The product distributed in the U.K. is completely gluten-free, but the U.S. version in not. In the Caribbean, non-alcoholic versions of ginger beer are spiked with dark Caribbean rum to make a cocktail called the Dark and Stormy, which has become a signature drink on Bermuda, Jamaica and many other islands.
 
:Sorghum beer
 
Today, many gluten-free beer brands are made using sorghum as the main ingredient. Sorghum was first used to make alcohol in China. Even today, distilled Chinese liquor like maotai is made using the grain. In Africa, sorghum beer has long been very popular. It is known by different names in different parts of the continent. It is called pombe in East Africa and burukutu in Nigeria. Sorghum beer is widely served in South Africa as well. It is usually made in large metal pots (traditionally over an open fire) and “soured” during the fermentation process. This step, which is not used in beer production, gives African sorghum beer a very distinct taste.
 
American brewers have started using sorghum to make gluten-free beer. Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery was one of the first to do this with its New Grist brand. Other companies, such as Bard’s Tale, also have sorghum beer offerings that are widely distributed in the United States.
 
:Palm wine
 
Palm wine is a naturally fermented drink popular in Asia and Africa. It’s known by different names depending on where it’s made, but the method of collecting palm tree sap and fermenting it is very similar everywhere. The process of making palm wine starts when sap is extracted from a palm tree (coconut palm, date palm and other varieties are used). This sometimes requires the tapper to climb high up into the tree.
 
The sap starts fermenting after it is taken from the tree, and after two or three hours, the liquid has an alcohol content of three to four percent. It is usually consumed at this point because it is at its sweetest. If fermentation continues, the taste becomes more sour, but the drink gets stronger (up to 10 to 12 percent alcohol). If the liquid is allowed to ferment for more than a day, it becomes like vinegar and is undrinkable. Some tappers and sap collectors add local yeasts to increase the potency. Palm wine isn’t widely available in the U.S. because of the process by which it is made and the fact that it should be enjoyed while fresh.
 
:Pulque
 
Mexico is famous for its tequila. However, another lesser-known (and less potent) drink is made from the same plant family used to produce both tequila and its worm-wearing cousin, mezcal. Pulque is made from the sap of certain species of agave. After the sap is collected, it is fermented using special bacteria. The process of fermentation is continuous, so pulque must be consumed soon after it is removed from the fermentation vats. The process usually lasts one to two weeks.
 
Pulque is drunk by some locals in agave-growing areas, and there are efforts to revive interest among tourists by adding pulque to tequila tours or offering it as a less potent, more traditional alternative to the harder liquor.
 
:Sake
 
Sake is a well-known Japanese alcoholic beverage. It is usually categorized as a wine or a spirit, but the brewing process is actually much closer to beer than wine or distilled liquor. Sake is made from rice, and, like beer, the starch is converted to sugar before it is fermented. Unlike beer, which has separate brewing steps, the conversion of starch to sugar to alcohol occurs in a single step.
 
Sake has an alcohol content of 15 to 20 percent. Both transparent filtered and cloudy unfiltered versions are available. A type of mold is actually sprinkled on the rice to start the fermentation process (the same mold is used to ferment soybeans that will be used to make soy sauce). The sake-making process takes about one month, though it can vary depending on the variety being produced.  


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