“New England’s first kava bar” opens in Nashua
A 3,000-year-old root indigenous to the South Pacific islands, kava is used in tea-like herbal beverages consumed socially at establishments known as kava bars. Around 200 such bars exist across the United States — and a new one has just arrived in New Hampshire.
Root Awakening, now open on Main Street in Nashua, is being touted as “New England’s first kava bar” by owner Greg Gately. Kava, he said, is lauded for its relaxing effects on the body and mind, and it’s also a popular natural remedy for anxiety and muscle and joint pain.
“What I like to say is that it slows down that 9-to-5 tick. It calmly relaxes you,” Gately said. “It’s definitely something that you want to finish off in two or three big gulps, like a shot … [and] instead of saying ‘Cheers,’ in the islands we say ‘Bula.’ It’s the celebration of life.”
Gately, whose mother is from the South Pacific, was born and raised in California’s Bay Area before moving east to New England for college. He said he first became introduced to the Fijian root and its properties through a friend, who owns several kava bars out on the West Coast.
“I really started drinking it heavily when I started going for my MBA program,” he said. “It helped me focus whenever I had a big milestone and had to put my head down and hit the books for four or five hours. … Kava really allows you to kind of focus in a really good, natural way.”
Inspired by his kava bar-owning friend and looking for his next move in life in the wake of the pandemic, Gately began looking for spaces last year to launch his own kava concept.
Root Awakening, he said, was built on the foundation of providing visitors with a “non-alcoholic alternative social experience” to traditional bars, using kava beverages as its vessel.
Three kava root varieties — sourced from the Fijian, Vanuatu and Tongan Islands of the South Pacific — are currently available at Root Awakening. Premium raw kava drinks come in a single-serve 10-ounce “kava shell,” or a plastic cup made to resemble half of a coconut shell. You can also get them in larger serving bowls called tanoas — small and large-sized tanoas are respectively 80 and 120 ounces, serving two to three and four to six kava drinkers.
“We chop down the roots, dry them out and then we grind them into a fine powder,” Gately said. “It’s going to then be brewed up almost like a tea. It gets rinsed in a giant tea bag, and then I squeeze out the active ingredient, which is called the kavalactones.”
The result produces “an earthy and pungent” drink that Gately likes to top off with a customer’s choice of a pineapple or strawberry as a chaser. He also serves single-serve mango-flavored kava shots that can be mixed with any beverage of your choice, as well as a total of five flavors of Leilo, a ready-to-drink canned kava product available in 12-ounce cans.
So far, Gately has reported “literally 95 percent” of his patrons to be first-time kava drinkers.
“I almost have an elevator pitch now about what kava is and what to expect,” he said. “A lot of folks are nervous about their first drink. They’ll look at the person they’re with and they’ll say to each other, ‘Are you ready? On three.’ … Usually my first-timers will drink two to three shells.”
As an alternative to kava, Gately does also offer multiple flavors of East Coast kombucha on tap. He also carries drinks like cold brew coffee, ginger beer, coconut water and orange cream soda, and hopes to soon expand his menu to include small perishable food options. Community events like trivia nights, open mic nights and comedy shows are also being planned for the space.
Root Awakening Kava Bar
Where: 300 Main St., Unit 603, Nashua
Hours: Monday through Saturday, noon to midnight, and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.
More info: Visit rootawakeningkava.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram @rootawakeningkava
Root Awakening requires customers to be at least 18 years of age or older to consume kava beverages. Drinks should not be taken with alcohol or prescription medications.
Featured photo: Greg Gately of Root Awakening Kava Bar in Nashua prepares ground kava root for two single-serve premium raw kava drinks. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.
