South Pacific Culture is a Buzz at Noble Kava

Andrew Procyk holds a giant kava root ball from the Isaka Village in the South Pacific.
Andrew Procyk holds a giant kava root ball from the Isaka Village in the South Pacific.

Asheville’s kava bar on Eagle Street has roots stretching halfway around the world.

Andrew Procyk, owner of Noble Kava, stays close to the kava farmers he depends on 8,000 miles away, visiting them at least once a year.

Noble Kava is a bar that serves drinks made from the root of kava plants. The kava drink is a mild intoxicant with a mellow relaxing effect, but allows the consumer to maintain mental clarity, Procyk explained.

Procyk and his wife, Keely Flow, maintain a connection to kava’s origins in their downtown business out of respect for the culture and history of a ceremony going back thousands of years. Noble Kava does not sell alcohol, but they do sell teas, coffee, and drinks made from leaves of the kratom tree, a plant in the coffee family with its own mild effects.

Procyk attests to the fact that people do not drink kava for the taste, but for its effects. Each cup comes with a piece of pineapple or watermelon as a chaser.

“The kava plant itself is related to pepper plants and grows throughout the South Pacific. It has been used for millennia by indigenous people,” Procyk said. “We seek to be a place where someone can come and experience a piece of the South Pacific culture, while, at the same time, helping the people of that culture.”

Procyk’s business sustains farmers in places like Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu who depend on kava exports for their livelihoods. Procyk and his wife also use part of the bar’s profits to fund primary infrastructure projects for villagers. Some Isaka villages’ electricity now comes from solar panels Procyk and Flow bought for them.

Procyk also maintains connections to kava drinkers. He likes to educate patrons on the history, chemistry, and botany of kava. He researches everything he sells to ensure its purity, he said. For example, he will not sell tudei (two day) kava, a variety of kava bred for its potency and growth.

“The tudei grows more rapidly, and it makes a stronger drink, but flavokavins in tudei have not been demonstrated as safe for human consumption,” Procyk explained. “So, we avoid selling any kavas that are non-noble.” Thus, the name Noble Kava.

The bar first opened four years ago on South Lexington Avenue as Vanuatu Kava. He and his wife moved the bar to Eagle Street two years ago and changed its name. The kava bar was the first of its kind outside of Florida and California. Procyk’s recent kava venture on West King Street in Boone is the third in the state.

Seven people now work at Noble Kava, with four and sometimes five full-time employees. One employee, Jennifer Pelosi, has worked in the service industry before and prefers the non-alcoholic environment.

“There are different sorts of people who come here,” Pelosi said. “Conversation is a lot better, and people really do come here for the community.”

Noble Kava

Noble Kava has entertainment every Friday and Saturday night. Employee Caleb Beissert hosts poetry open mic night on Wednesdays.

Nobel Kava is located at 15 Eagle Street in downtown Asheville. For more information call (828) 505-8118, email [email protected], and visit www.noblekava.com.