One of the best things about kava is that you can freeze it to serve it later. Freezing kava is an old trick that many of us use to keep leftover kava for hot summer days. On top of kava tasting better when cold you can mix it into another cold drink to make an amazing tasting and relaxing smoothie or slushie. Before you do this, there are 3 major steps that need to be taken to ensure you freeze your kava properly.
There are 3 steps that need to be performed before freezing kava. First, make sure you put the kava in a container with a lid that has enough space to handle the expanding liquid. Second, account for any additives to the kava that will freeze differently. Third, always stir your kava well before and after freezing it to get the best-preserved flavor.
Freezing kava is one of the best ways to keep old grog alive. Don’t throw it out and waste the kava, instead freeze it so that you can use it later. The team here at Kava-Bula freezes their kava all the time to transport and preserve the taste. They follow these 3 steps every time and it has helped keep kava tasting great for years.
Let’s jump in yeah; here are the 3 steps to freezing kava properly.
Make Sure You Put the Kava into a Container with a Lid and Enough Space
This is a general rule of thumb for freezing all liquids. Water expands when it is frozen, as such when you put liquid in the freezer it will expand in size. Always make sure you have a container with enough room to account for this.
Water by itself will expand by around 9% when frozen. Leaving enough room at the top to account for this will make sure you don’t open the freezer door to a surprise. I am sure many of us have left a beverage in the freezer and come back to a messy explosion.
Depending on how much kava you put into your water it will expand less. On average in every glass of kava, we freeze we will put about a 1-2 inch gap at the top to make sure the container does not explode.
On this liquid, container make sure you always put a cap. This makes sure the kava does not evaporate from the condenser fan of the freezer and also protects the flavor as you transport the frozen drink to its final destination.
Account for Any Additives to the Kava That Will Make It Freeze Differently
This is a hidden step that people need to remember. Often people add different things to their kava to change the flavor. These additives will react differently to freezing and change the texture and taste of the kava itself.
For example, if you add strawberry extract to your kava and then freeze it the strawberry will react differently to the cold temperature than just straight kava. Most berries will lose their flavor and become tasteless during the freezing process.
As such when you take out the kava to drink later you will have to add back in the strawberry extract to bring it back to the level of taste that it was previously. This goes for most additives that people traditionally add to kava to improve the taste or texture.
When we freeze our kava we typically label what flavor each container has and how much we put in. That way when we freeze the glass we can simply add back in the proper flavor at a later date when we thaw the frozen kava.
Always Stir Your Kava before and after Freezing It to Get the Best Preserved Flavor
This step is a major one for getting the most out of your kava when freezing it. You need to stir the kava just before and after freezing it. This comes down to how much you want to preserve the flavor.
If you just throw the kava in the freezer without stirring it then most of the kava powder left in the beverage will freeze on the bottom of the glass. This can create a weird sludge-like texture when you thaw the drink out later on.
While some people like the kava sludge many don’t. It really comes down to your personal preference. I for one don’t like the sludge that can exist at the bottom of the frozen kava and prefer to stir it before putting it into the freezer. Depending on the size and temperature of the kava drink this will often prevent the kava from completely settling on the bottom of the container before it freezes.
When you take the kava out of the freezer then you should thaw it and then throw it into a blender to give it a good mix-up. This will restore the kava flavor and leave you ready to enjoy the kava a second time.
Even better than that you can mix the frozen kava into the blender with some milk to create an amazing-tasting smoothie. Just throw in some additives such as strawberries or pineapple and you are ready to enjoy your frozen kava drink.
Does Freezing Kava Reduce Its Effectiveness?
To provide a simple answer to this question freezing kava does not hurt it in any way.
The reason why people think that freezing kava is bad for the root is that they equate freezing to reducing the taste and quality. That’s not the case with kava for one major reason.
When you freeze an object such as food that contains lots of water the cells will rupture and degrade the food quality. This is because most foods contain lots of water in them. Things such as meat, fruit, and vegetables all will degrade in quality when you put them in the freezer because of this.
However, with kava there is almost no water content. When you freeze the kava you are only freezing the water around the kava; the kava itself does not expand or its cells rupture because of the expansion of water.
In essence freezing kava does nothing to the kava itself. It only preserves the flavor and taste. This is why we at Kava-Bula always freeze our leftover kava so that we can use it later. It’s essentially like freezing a water bottle, it just makes a giant kava ice-cub.
Summary
That’s about it when it comes to the 3 steps to freezing kava properly.
Most people either don’t know that you can freeze kava or do it wrong. This will often leave you with a mess to clean up or a bad-tasting ball of kava ice. However, if you follow these 3 steps you can rest easy knowing your kava is ready to go wherever you are.
As always remember that kava is a cultural beverage designed to bring the local community together. When we drink kava we say ‘bula’ which translates to wishing your local community good health and fortune. So bula to you reader!
Comments are closed