The business of alcohol-free – how kava bars are changing the after-hours scene in Idaho
Story by Brittney Long
From Austin to San Francisco, and now Idaho, kava is planting its roots as a buzzworthy alcohol alternative with flavors like lavender lemonade and peanut butter.
Idaho’s kava scene is a bit behind the curve, considering nearly two decades ago the country's first kava bar opened in Boca Raton. But since then, the concept of a socially sober night scene proves to be a wildly popular trend continuing to grow across the country and right here in the Gem State. Idaho’s first kava bar opened in Coeur d’Alene late last year, and the second is slated to open in Boise this summer.
A kava beverage from Inland Kava Bar | Courtesy of Gina Rogers
WIDENING THE KAVA FOOTPRINT
Gina Rogers, the co-owner of Inland Kava Bar in Coeur d’Alene, knew there was something missing in her community for those who still want to go out and be social without negative effects that can come with drinking alcohol. She and Nathan Rogers opened the bar—which serves non-alcoholic kava, alongside coffee and tea—in December 2021.
“It is something more fun than, say, going to a coffee shop,” Rogers said. ”You can still get that feeling of relaxation, stress relief and euphoric feelings, without alcohol.”
SO, WHAT IS KAVA?
Some people call kava calming, energizing, relaxing or even euphoric—a buzz without the alcohol. It’s made from the root of a plant in the pepper family that’s found throughout the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia. People have used it as an herbal medicine for centuries, using it for everything from treating migraines to helping increase focus. (The National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health reports kava has been linked to liver injury—though, of course, so has alcohol.)
Inland Kava Bar, open to ages 18 and up, is approaching their business as a full "bar" experience, with karaoke nights, yard games, sport streaming and live music nights featuring reggae bands and other local entertainers —all sans the booze.
Inland Kava's menu includes offerings like The Elvis, a blend designed to cut the grassy or bitter taste of kava alone, incorporating chocolate and peanut butter. The Lavender Mule, a kava extract with lime, ginger beer and lavender syrup, takes the place of a typical Moscow Mule, complete with the copper mule cup and lime wedge.
Depending on how it's processed or its country of origin, kava can produce different effects. Inland Kava Bar rotates several strains and blends, Rogers said, sourced from Fiji, Vanuatu, Salma Islands.
“We do it the traditional way where you put the kava into a strainer bag,” Rogers said. ”It gets submerged into the water for a while to release the botanics.”
For those coming in for their first time trying kava, Rogers gives advice: “Kava has reverse tolerance, so we always tell people like if you've never had kava it can take a few extra drinks to really start feeling it. Stick with it, because you’ll really love it when you start noticing the effects.”
BELIEVING IN THE BOTANICS
In Boise, Benjamin Coulter McQueen sells his Karuna Kava brews online, in a few kava shops around the country and at Wild Root in downtown Boise. And in the works is a new location in Garden City.
"Karuna Kava was created in earnest on New Years' Eve of 2018 when I had what some would refer to as a ‘eureka’ moment," McQueen said.
He had been working as a kava tender at a kava bar in Colorado Springs and had been successfully using kava as an alternative to alcohol for around two years.
"I had started brewing kava at home and had started infusing traditional kava with natural ingredients and honey to improve the flavor, and after a long discussion … and drinking lots of kava with a friend on New Year's Eve, I decided to start my own company," he said.
At the new Kava Karuna lounge, they will branch out into some unique herbal cocktails featuring the house tap line, utilizing natural ingredients from around the world. The menu will serve classic twists on cocktails like a Ginseng Mojito, Yerba Mate Margarita, and Kava Lava Fire Cider Bloody Mary.
Karuna is a term from Mahayana Buddhism, a Sanskrit word for compassion.
"Compassion was what I desperately needed when I was in the depths of my alcoholism. Compassion for myself,” McQueen said. “Our company hopes to spread compassion to others through our beverages and our alcohol-free safe space.”
The kava-pouring bar has developed a very loungy, high-desert vibe, McQueen said.
"Our bar top is a 30-foot sustainably harvested slab of Guanacaste wood, with four South Pacific island chains routed into the bar top and set with colored epoxy. We have a massive mural of desert mountains on our wall, and have plenty of comfortable, attractive seating,” he said.
The brick and mortar Kaurna Kava is set to have its grand opening on July 9, 2022.
