Miami’s kava bar and matcha cafe in Upper Buena Vista

No. Kava has no THC and is not cannabis, so it does not produce a stoned high. Its active compounds, kavalactones, act on the brain’s GABA-A calming system. Drinkers report relaxation and a calm, social mood, plus a tingly or numb mouth, and Australia’s food regulator says these effects appear without a drop in thinking skills. Large amounts in a short time can bring heavy sedation and poor coordination, so pace yourself and never drive if you feel it.

At Kavacito the kava is organic root and water, poured in a 4 oz shell or a 12 oz cup, plain or as strawberry or coconut kava. One reviewer called the coconut kava “smooth and tasty with not muddy after taste.”

Sources: PLoS ONE 2016, FSANZ 2025

A kava bar is an alcohol-free social spot where ground kava root is mixed with water and served in small cups called shells, often coconut half-shells, usually with a fruit or juice chaser for the bitter, earthy taste. Many bars also pour flavored kava drinks and mocktails. The US scene began in Boca Raton in 2002, and Florida now has more kava bars than any other state. Some bars also sell kratom, a different plant with its own risks.

Kavacito is a kiosk under the trees at Upper Buena Vista. You order at the window, take a chair under the canopy, and the board runs kava, five ceremonial matchas, chaga, reishi cacao and ube. Kratom is not on the board.

Sources: WUSF 2025, CRE Daily 2026

No. Kava has no alcohol, and drinkers describe a calm, relaxed body and a social mood with a clear head, not the loose, tipsy feeling of a drink. Australia’s food regulator says kava’s effects appear without a drop in thinking skills at normal amounts. That comparison comes mostly from drinker reports, not head-to-head studies. Kava still causes drowsiness in larger amounts, and mixing it with alcohol intensifies alcohol’s effects on thinking.

Reviewers describe the room more than the buzz: “so relaxing and welcoming,” and “a hidden tropical escape right in the city.”

Sources: FSANZ 2025, NSW Health

Kava brings a calm, relaxed feeling, not a cannabis high or a drunk one. Drinkers report relaxation, tranquility and an easy, social mood, plus a tingly, numb mouth from the kavalactones’ local numbing effect. At normal amounts the head usually stays clear, and larger amounts bring drowsiness and poor coordination. Reports of mild euphoria come from drinkers, not controlled studies.

Sources: FSANZ 2025, Memorial Sloan Kettering, NSW Health

Drinkers commonly report a few hours, but no clinical study has timed the feeling after a traditional kava drink. Blood levels of kavalactones peak about 1.8 to 3 hours after a dose, and the body clears half of them in about 9 hours. How long you feel it varies with how much you drink and the type of kava. Noble kava, the kind most bars serve, is milder, and tudei kava can linger for about two days.

Start with the 4 oz shell if it is your first time, and ask Maria or Mo at the window what they recommend.

Sources: NSW Health, WUSF 2025

Yes in the alcohol sense, since kava contains no alcohol, but sober is not the same as unimpaired. Studies at typical amounts mostly show no drop in thinking skills. Kava still relaxes the body and can cause drowsiness, and Australian health authorities advise against driving or operating machinery after drinking it. Heavier sessions affect coordination, and kava with alcohol intensifies alcohol’s effects. If you feel it, treat yourself as impaired.

There is no alcohol on Kavacito’s board.

Sources: FSANZ 2025, NSW Health

Skip kava if you have liver or kidney problems, are pregnant or breastfeeding, have Parkinson’s disease, have surgery coming up, or plan to drive. Skip it if you take sedatives, sleep aids, benzodiazepines or other drugs that cause drowsiness, and never drink it with alcohol. Anyone on daily prescription medicine should check with a doctor or pharmacist first. Under 18 is a sensible cutoff, though research on kava in young people is thin.

Half of Kavacito’s board has no kava in it: the five matchas, the chaga drinks, reishi cacao and ube.

Sources: Memorial Sloan Kettering, NCCIH, FDA memo 2020

No. Florida and federal law set no minimum age to buy kava, so any 18+ or 21+ rule at a kava bar is the business’s own policy. Florida’s age-21 law, section 500.92, covers kratom products only, so a bar that sells kratom must card for those drinks. Some Florida cities limit where kava businesses can open, such as Doral’s 500-foot buffer from schools, parks and places of worship.

Call or text (786) 904-3737 for Kavacito’s house policy before you bring a group.

Sources: NCCIH, Fla. Stat. 500.92, CRE Daily

It is called dirty because a shot of espresso is added. A dirty matcha is a matcha latte with espresso poured in, and the name comes from the dirty chai, a chai latte with a shot of espresso. The espresso darkens, or dirties, the drink’s color, and baristas call any non-coffee drink dirty once it gets a shot. Nothing about it is unclean. Stories about who coined the term are folklore with no documented source.

Dirty matcha is not on Kavacito’s board. The closest cup is the chagaccino, chaga and coffee over milk, and the matcha latte is ceremonial grade whisked to order.

Sources: Chowhound 2025, Merriam-Webster

No. They are unrelated plants. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is the root of an evergreen shrub from India, used in Ayurvedic medicine and usually taken as a daily supplement. Kava (Piper methysticum) is a pepper-plant root from the South Pacific, drunk as a social and ceremonial beverage, and its kavalactones reach peak blood levels about 1 to 3 hours after a dose. One is a long-term daily supplement; the other is a drink you feel the same day.

Kavacito pours kava, not ashwagandha. The adaptogens on the board are the mushrooms: chaga in the chaga matcha and chagaccino, reishi in the reishi cacao.

Sources: NCCIH ashwagandha, NCCIH kava, Kanumuri 2022

Not proven. Human evidence is thin and mixed: a one-week pilot in 21 smokers reported lower cortisol with kava but had no placebo group, and a small placebo-controlled trial in 15 healthy men found no cortisol change. A larger trial has not published results yet. Ashwagandha has the stronger record, with a 2026 review of 23 placebo-controlled trials showing lower cortisol. Kavacito makes no cortisol claims for kava.

Sources: Wang 2020, Smith 2024, Planta Medica 2026