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Many people have trouble finishing their kava in one go. One of the easiest ways to fix this is to refrigerate your kava for later. This article goes over everything you will ever need to know to begin to refrigerate your kava properly.
When you refrigerate your kava there are a couple of major things you should know about. First, kava only lasts about 3 days in a refrigerator before beginning to go sour. Second, always cover the kava when putting it into the refrigerator. Third, whatever you put in the kava can cause it to go bad or sour faster. If you follow these three things before refrigerating your kava then your grog will be good to go.
Kava in the refrigerator will settle. So when you pull it out make sure you stir it so that it is good again. The team here at Kava-Bula put their kava in the refrigerator while they go about their day. For a couple of hours this is fine but you don’t want to leave it in for multiple days.
Let’s jump right in yeah. Here is everything you will ever need to know about refrigerating kava.
Kava Only Lasts About 3 Days in a Refigerator at Most
This is a big one. When you refrigerate your kava make sure to remember that it only lasts about 3 days at most in a normal refrigerator.
This is because the root itself will start to build up bacteria if left in the water. Over time this will result in the kava becoming extremely sour and bitter. If left unchecked for too long this can actually lead to drinkers becoming sick.
Whenever I put kava in the fridge I label what time it was put in there. On the side of the cup I will write the date and time so that I know exactly how long it has been in. This will prevent you from second-guessing yourself and can help prevent wasted kava.
The worst part is that from just looking at bad kava you can’t really tell. Kava that has been in the fridge for more than 3 days looks the same as kava that was just made. You won’t know it is bad until you either smell it or taste it.
If the kava smells bad then you should definitely throw it out. It will give off a sour smell kinda like watered-down spoiled milk. This will happen around 4-5 days after being left in a normal refrigerator.
As such one of the most important things to remember when refrigerating your kava is that it only lasts about 3 days at most before going bad.
Always Cover Your Kava When Putting It in the Refrigerator
Here is another vital tip. When placing your kava in the refrigerator always cover the top.
When you cover the top of your kava you are protecting the water from evaporating. This will lead to a massively strong and bitter kava drink that most people don’t like. You would be surprised to learn how fast your kava can evaporate in the fridge.
One time I left my kava in the fridge for only a couple of hours and the drink became incredibly bitter as the water evaporated. Essentially this leaves you will a super distilled kava drink that many people can’t stomach. Covering your kava when you put it in the refrigerator will protect the drink from evaporating.
The reason that your kava will evaporate is because of the dry climate in a refrigerator combined with the condenser fan blowing cold air around. You can experiment with this effect and leave a bowl of water out in the fridge. It will evaporate pretty fast.
Putting your kava in a climate-controlled bin in your refrigerator might prevent this but I never experimented with this. I just simply cover my kava with either plastic wrap or a lid of some kind.
When you put your kava in the fridge make sure you cover it yeah. This will save you time and kava in the long run.
Remember What You Put in the Kava as This Can Expire Faster
Here is something that a lot of people seem to forget, what you add to the kava will impact how long it can be put in the refrigerator.
Most people like to experiment with the flavor of kava to make it taste better for them. They will add fruits such as pineapple, strawberries, and apples to their kava. While these additives are great for the flavor they will expire fast and should be accounted for when putting your kava in the fridge.
The kava will begin to sour in about 3 days. If you put strawberries and other additives into the kava this will increase the speed at which it begins to spoil. When I have any sort of fruit added to my kava and I store it in the refrigerator I will notice that the flavor begins to change after only 1 day.
While it is still good to drink up until the kava itself goes bad I don’t like how sour the overall drink gets when it has fruit in it. These additives for some reason spoil the flavor of the drink after only a couple of hours in the refrigerator.
The way to get around this is to store the raw kava in the fridge and then cut up fruit as you use it. Don’t store both in the refrigerator as this will degrade the flavor of the entire drink. If you are going to store both make sure you drink the entire beverage no later than one day later.
Simply put, just make sure you account for what you put into your kava when you stick it into the refrigerator.
Summary
That’s about it to storing kava in the refrigerator. As long as you follow these 3 helpful tips then you will be good to go for keeping your kava nice and cold for days to come.
Remember that kava is a cultural drink. Here on the islands we drink the kava to bring our local community together to share stories and make new friends. Kava should always be enjoyed with the locals of the area. That’s why when we drink kava we say ‘Bula’ which translates to wishing your community the best. So bula to you!
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