Who Is Makaira?

Aloha! I’m Makaira, who used to be part-owner of Kona Kava Farm, where the best (I think!) kava in the world was grown. My family comes from a long line of ‘awa growers. Many people ask if the woman on the labels of our products is a real person, and yes, it is me. My father paints pictures in his “off-time” from the farm, and one day he painted me drinking a half shell of ‘awa by the ocean. He made it into our very first commercial labels. I then did a few photo shoots for our website (I think the poses from that photo shoot are a little silly!), and found myself in the family business in a way I hadn’t planned.

So, I was born right here on the farm during the summer of 1966. I have traveled the world extensively in search of unique strains of kava, as well as prized seeds of coffee, cacao, hoodia, maca, and a few other plants that we love to grow on our estate, but I always find myself coming back to this stunningly beautiful island where I have many friends and family.

I believe in diversifying our product line and our crops just a bit, to help spread the word about this safe and effective herbal supplement, that often has mystery and rumor surrounding it. (Click the links on the right for important articles on kava, several of which point to specific studies showing that kava is safe.) But, we are as particular about any product we carry as we are about our kava, so nothing except the absolute best hoodia and maca we can find, as well as the tastiest vegan chocolate that has ever passed any of our lips, is good enough to put our name on.

We then have those same high-quality herbs carefully crafted into our small batch recipes for our drinks, concentrates, and extracts. Be brave and pick up an instant drink or a concentrate in addition to your kava powdered root purchase!

My own personal section of the blog, entitled The Mind of Makaira is where I share with all of you events that happen in my  life, books and articles I read about kava… basically anything that comes across my mind. You can comment on the blog too, so please fire away! I promise to respond to each and every one of you! There are also news articles about kava interspersed within the blog. You can find them by going to Kava News directly.

There is also a section contained in the blog called Ask Makaira where you can ask me anything you wish; from questions about kava, to our culture, to anything else your heart desires. I adore kava and everything about it, and enjoy finding comments and questions for me to answer. And don’t worry; you won’t have to wait forever for a reply; I promise I will get back to you within a day or two, so check back here often! Please email any questions to me at makaira(at)konakavafarm(dot)com.

Also, feel free to contact the farm with any questions or comments you might have; we want to be sure that your experiences with Kava will be positive ones. You can reach us via e-mail at kavashop(at)konakavafarm(dot)com, or you can call anytime as well, and a knowledgeable and friendly member of our Chicago processing facility will gladly assist you.

Aloha no,
Makaira