Quality & Sourcing
The boring parts,in detail.
Most kava marketing is vague. Here's exactly what's in a KILA stick, where it comes from, and what we leave out.
The short version
Noble cultivar. Root only.250 mg, every time.
KILA is made from the noble cultivar of Piper methysticum, using only the root, standardized to deliver 250 mg of kavalactones per stick. That dose is on our Master Formula Record. It’s on every stick. It doesn’t change between batches.
What we use, and what we don’t
Four lines on the spec sheet that actually matter.
What we use
✓ Noble cultivar
Never
✗ Tudei (two-day) cultivar
Noble varieties are the traditional, daily-use ones that islanders have grown and consumed for centuries. Tudei contain higher levels of flavokavains, the compounds linked to the early-2000s safety concerns.
What we use
✓ Root material only
Never
✗ Leaves and stems (aerial parts)
Only the root is traditionally consumed and considered safe for regular use. Aerial parts contain compounds that can be irritating or stressful to the liver.
What we use
✓ Standardized to 250 mg kavalactones
Never
✗ Whole-root powder with unknown potency
Standardization means every stick gives you the same dose. Whole-root powder varies batch-to-batch and gives you no reliable way to know what you're drinking.
What we use
✓ Five-ingredient adaptogen blend
Never
✗ Kratom, alcohol, melatonin, or fillers as primary actives
Some kava products lean on kratom or other compounds to seem stronger. We don't. The lift comes from the noble kava plus traditional adaptogens.
Where it comes from
Vanuatu, by hand.
KILA is sourced from Vanuatu — the archipelago in the Pacific where Piper methysticum was first domesticated more than three thousand years ago. Vanuatu’s noble cultivars are widely regarded as the highest-quality kava grown anywhere on earth, and ni-Vanuatu farming communities have been cultivating them for daily use longer than almost any continuous agricultural practice on the planet.
We work only with growers raising noble cultivars on the same land, the same way, that their families have for generations.
How it’s made
Water-based, the traditional way.
KILA uses a water-based extraction — the same method Pacific cultures have used for thousands of years, scaled with modern precision instruments. No ethanol, no acetone, no chemical solvents. Just root and cold water, the way kava has always been pulled from the plant.
What modern processing adds is measurement. Whole-root powder is what you’d get if you ground a piece of root and put it in a glass — the dose is whatever the root happened to contain that day. Our standardized water extract is assayed so every stick delivers 250 mg of kavalactones — no more, no less. Predictable dose, every pour.
What the research says
Kava on the record.
Noble kava has one of the longer continuous human-use safety records of any plant on the supplement aisle — and one of the more cited clinical literatures. A small sample:
Anxiety reduction (RCT)
A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of noble kava extract in 75 adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder reported significant reductions in anxiety scores vs placebo.
Sarris et al. (2013), Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
Hepatic safety review
Comprehensive reviews have traced the early-2000s hepatotoxicity signal to non-noble (tudei) cultivars, aerial plant parts, and solvent-based extraction — none of which apply to traditional or modern noble-root kava.
Teschke et al. (2011); WHO assessments (2007, 2016)
Non-impairing effect profile
Kavalactones bind to GABA(A) receptors but do not produce the cognitive impairment associated with alcohol or benzodiazepines at normal doses — the “relaxed but articulate” profile traditional drinkers describe.
Singh (2004) ethnopharmacology review
International quality standard
In 2020 the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted an international quality standard for kava products, formalizing the use of noble cultivars and root material in global supply chains.
Codex Alimentarius CXS 336-2020
On safety
What actually happened in the early 2000s.
You may have heard kava had liver-safety concerns about twenty years ago. Subsequent research traced the issue almost entirely to three things: tudei (non-noble) cultivars, aerial plant parts (leaves and stems) being included in extracts, and solvent-based extraction methods. None of those describe traditional or modern noble-root kava.
In 2009 the World Health Organization published a comprehensive assessment concluding traditional kava has at least a 1,500-year history of safe human use. In 2021 the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted an international quality standard for kava products. KILA’s formula and sourcing are built to align with those standards.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Want the receipts?
We’re happy to share a Certificate of Analysis for any batch. Email hello@feelkila.com with the batch number on the side of your box and we’ll send it.
New to kava in general? Read the Kava 101 guide →
Ready to feelsomething good?
250 mg of standardized noble-cultivar kavalactones per stick.