Written By:

Johnny Gold

Kava is a root from the Pacific Islands, taken as a drink. It is calming and sociable. Kanna is a succulent from South Africa, taken as a chew, lozenge or elixir. It is lifting and talkative. Both are potentially intoxicating, and each has one group of people who should skip it.

Side by side

What it is. Kava: the root of a pepper plant, Piper methysticum. Kanna: a succulent, Sceletium tortuosum.

Where it is from. Kava: Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii. Kanna: South Africa's Western and Northern Cape.

How it is taken. Kava: a drink, a can, a powder you mix, a gummy. Kanna: a chew, a lozenge, chocolate, an elixir.

What it is for. Kava: the end of the day, or the drink at dinner you are not having. Kanna: the front half of the night, when the room needs loosening.

How it reads. Kava: calm, unhurried, sociable. Kanna: lifting, talkative.

Taste. Kava: earthy and peppery, with a tingle on the tongue. Kanna: bitter on its own, so it usually comes flavored.

Skip it if. Kava: you have a liver condition, or you are drinking alcohol. Kanna: you take an SSRI, an MAOI or any antidepressant.

Kava, briefly

Kava has been drunk across the Pacific for a very long time, usually in a circle, usually in the evening. The root is ground, mixed with water and strained. The first sip makes your lips tingle. That is normal.

Look for noble kava on the label. It is the kind Pacific growers drink every day. Other varieties exist and tend to be heavier and longer.

Kava is not for mixing with alcohol. If you have a liver condition or take medicine that affects the liver, skip it. And since it is potentially intoxicating, not before driving.

Kanna, briefly

The Khoikhoi and San peoples have used kanna for centuries. Traditionally it was fermented and chewed. Now it mostly comes as a chew or a lozenge you hold in your cheek.

It is serotonergic. That is the whole warning, and it matters: not for anyone taking an SSRI, an SNRI or an MAOI without a doctor's go-ahead. More in What is kanna.

Which one, when

  • Instead of a drink after work: kava.
  • Before a dinner or a party: kanna.
  • A month off drinking: kava, in a can. A month off is easier when the thing in your hand is not a compromise.
  • For the hour after everything is finished: kava, or something from Nothing After Four.

Can you take them together

We would not, at least not the first time. Try each on its own, on a night with nothing after it, and know how each one sits with you before you put them in the same evening.

Kava and kanna on Flowerhead

  • Kava: Leilo, Melo, Kaviva, Kavayn and Kava Haven. Cans, drink mixes, gummies and a non-alcoholic spirit.
  • Kanna: Fun Guy chews and chocolate.

Or skip the categories and pick a feeling.

Nothing here is medical advice. Neither kava nor kanna has been evaluated by the FDA.