Note: I’d also like to make a correction: I have referred to two day kava from Vanuatu as being Isa, but on further investigation I have been informed that it is not cultivated in Vanuatu at all. Palisi is the most common two day in Vanuatu, and constitutes the prime adulterant added to noble kava. This also sheds new light on some of the bad reactions we’ve seen to “two day” kavas. Among the worst have been those caused by “Hawaiian two day". This also completely debunks a recent statement by an alleged Hawaiian grower that "Isa is the most popular kava in Vanuatu nakamals".

All the var. methysticum accessions clustered into three well-defined groups in accordance with their geographical provenance, with the exception of the cultivars Isa (PNG1) and Iwi (PNG2). These two cultivars, both originating from Papua New Guinea, displayed two distinct and genetically distant genotypes…”

(see Figure 1a in attached paper)



“The cultivars and wild kavas were clearly distributed into five groups, identical to those given by the WPGMA (Pw I, Pw II, Vu I, Vu II, and Pom). The PCA obtained with both markers place Isa (PNG1), a var. methysticum accession, in closer proximity to the var. wichmannii from Vanuatu.” (see Figure 2a in attached paper)

so I thought I’d try to explain exactly what this type of kava is and is not…a country where kava is seldom consumed. The cultivar is unique to PNG, and all Isa currently grown in Hawaii can be positively traced to this source.with some rather interesting results. The two quotes at the bottom of this post and the attached paper give some of the details, but here are the facts:It is in fact totally unique, and as close as you can genetically get toand still be botanicallyThe termis actually a Vanuatu classification, along withand. We now use this term generically for basically any kava that is not noble (or wild), and this is valid for cultivars that have a history of consumption in any context. These classifications were first noted in “The Origin and Distribution of Kava”, and accurately portray traditional uses as defined by the Islanders.and is only used on rare occasions in PNG for funerals when no other cultivar is available. Considering this lack of Island tradition and Isa’s close genetic association to wichmannii, I queried the experts as to what classification Isa should rightly be assigned.I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of disagreement, but these are the facts.