![]() He and partner Rami Kayali source their kava from the Fiji, Konga and Vanuata islands, grinding the root themselves to ensure its quality.Ĭheck your iPhone at the door if you plan to hang out at Berkeley's newest bar. “We make our kava significantly stronger or people wouldn’t feel the effects of it,” says Nicholas (Nico) Rivard, co-owner of MeloMelo. Carroll)Īn alternative to the traditional bar scene, MeloMelo offers a trippy, tranquil vibe and calming soporific drinks that promise the opposite of caffeinated jitters or day-after hangovers, but is still open until 12am every night. It's natural benefits are widespread, and the root has been used as everything from a muscle relaxant and pain reliever to a sleep aid and cure for anxiety.įrom left: ground kava, waka (kava root) and lawena (kava stump). Kava culture first crept into the mainland via southern Florida in the early 2000s, but is only now making its way to the West Coast. Thousands of years before alcohol or coffee dominated society, kava was the beverage of choice for every occasion, and in the South Pacific it's often drunk throughout the day, in large quantities. MeloMelo Kava Bar is the first booze and coffee-free bar to hit the Bay Area serving only kava-a murky gray, mood-altering beverage made from the 10-foot roots of the piper methysticum (“intoxicating pepper”) plant native to the South Pacific. ![]() But head down University Avenue in Berkeley, and you'll hear the salutation shouted with gusto over kava-filled coconut mugs inside MeloMelo Kava Bar. The Polynesian term for cheers - Bula!- isn't commonly heard in San Francisco's restaurant scene, where toasting over a glass of Champagne or even a mug of coffee is the norm.
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