Fred Bryant in KavaClub’s planned home in the Fan. (BizSense file photos)
After more than a year of legal and regulatory wrangling, KavaClub looks to finally be on its way to selling its namesake drink.
The upstart Fan bar and the Virginia Department of Health have agreed to settle a dispute that has prevented the business from fully opening and serving kava, a nonalcoholic drink popular in Polynesia that gives its drinkers feelings of calmness and mild euphoria.
The settlement, filed in Richmond Circuit Court in late March, clears the way for KavaClub to reapply for an operating permit that would allow it to serve the beverage from its storefront at 1529 W. Main St. It would become the only kava bar in Virginia.
KavaClub has been trying to become fully operational in the space since February of 2023, when it leased part of the old Canon & Draw Brewing Co. building. But it was stymied from pouring kava after VDH denied its initial permit request, citing a lack of Food and Drug Administration-approval for the drink and other questions around the product’s safety. KavaClub appealed the VDH’s decision and took the matter to court as it tried to open its doors.
Throughout the process, KavaClub co-founder Fred Bryant has defended the safety of kava. And in the meantime, KavaClub did open for business in recent months, operating as an event space and non-alcoholic bar, serving mocktails and kombucha from Northside-based manufacturer Ninja Kombucha.
Under the settlement agreement with VDH, which is laid out in court documents, KavaClub would have to first reapply for a permit that would allow it to serve kava made with certain variations of ground kava plants sourced from Fiji. For its part, the VDH would agree it “shall not deny the application solely on the grounds that (KavaClub) intends to sell kava tea.”
KavaClub would only be permitted to serve individuals 21 years of age and older, and the bar would have to receive VDH approval prior to making any changes to its menu.
KavaClub would also have to “prominently display a warning in its facility advising customers that kava is mildly intoxicating and psychoactive.” The business also would not be allowed to promote the drink as an alternative to alcohol.
The bar had previously planned to serve drinks made with kratom, which is a cousin of the kava plant known to be more of a stimulant. But the settlement agreement stipulates that KavaClub would be prohibited from providing kratom in any form.
Reached Monday, Bryant declined to comment for this story. VDH’s Director of the Office of Environmental Health Services Julie Henderson said in a statement that the agency plans to “grant KavaClub a food establishment permit that approves a menu containing kava tea once KavaClub fulfills the requirements outlined in the consent order.”
Court documents do not indicate a specific date for when KavaClub will begin serving kava.
Attorneys John Byrum and Gil Topaz of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black are KavaClub’s legal counsel in the matter. The VDH is represented by the state Attorney General’s office.
So they will serve tea with Kava powder from FIji mixed into it??