Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Kimbo’s Guide to Buying Grog….purchasing narcotics..(legally)...

There are some similarities between the Western World and Fiji, and the ‘protocol of presenting sevusevu’.
It is not as alien as you think.

You get invited round to your friends house for dinner, or theyve done a favour for you and you want to thank them. Your go to the nearest supermarket, straight to the alcohol section (or maybe flowers…then alcohol), and you start to browse. You dont want your host to think you are cheap, so you ignore the £2.99 Asda special. Your wallet prevents you from looking at those bottles at your eye level on the shelves – the more expensive brand, the more popular, etc…so you start to scan up and down, left and right.

You find a mid range one, and read the label, pretending that you actually think you know what youre looking for….having met a large percentage of the tribe, i dont think it really matters what country the wine is from, what year it was made, if it does taste of apricot, peach, warm winters night, wood chippings, dog paw, if it compliments chicken, fish, red meat or a KFC Family bucket etc….as long as the % on the front of the bottle is high and it doesnt dent the wallet – then all is good. (the end result is the same – feeling rough the following day….)

Throw in a few cans of beer and youve got your sevusevu. Same applies for beer – Fosters (cheap), Carling (popular), XXXX (old school), Kronenbourg (bit of flair), Stella (could get messy)...but you go with what you like.

You knock on your friends door, your present your ‘sevusevu’, they take it from you, they let you in, you watch them put your sevusevu on the ‘alcohol table’ and you see that you havent brought as many beers as everyone else, and someone has even brought the more expensive wine – shock horror – you start to feel inferior, does it really matter? lets start judging people on the quality of wine they buy/drink shall we…..NO…...just put your cheap fosters down, and take someones else Kronenbourg…job done!!

So its almost the same in Fiji. You present a Sevusevu of Yaqona (kava/grog) to Tui Mali to thank him for letting you stay on the island. A bundle of non appealing twig like things wrapped in newspaper….you question why people would drink this….a root from a pepper plant? crazy?

So Kava is some respects is similar to wine. Different ages, different tastes, different quality, different types…

You have young grog (1-3 years), or the older, better grog (maybe 5 years), strong grog (dependant on growing conditions)....or the pre powdered stuff that youre not sure what it is…wood chips, grog and paper maybe….

(On Vorovoro we recommend you follow the more traditional protocol of presenting grog in ‘twig form!’ – its more respectful and more of a gesture)

You can buy grog in $10 bundles, or half KG ($17-$20), full KG ($35-$40), or for something extra special buy the big ‘presented bundles’ ranging from 3-7kg!!! You can also buy ‘just the heads’ (of the root) but theyre not the best tasting!

For Sevusevu a half kg will be enough. A member of the island team will greet you in Labasa, and take you to the local market to let you ‘browse the shelves for grog’...

So the younger grog is the cheap, taste like p* wine – smaller twigs, not very long (maybe 20-30cm), farly thing and straggly, not very appealing, fairly tasteless and ‘weak’ in effect..

The recommended grog is longer (arms length is good, as long as it doesnt taper for too long!), thick base, and its good to have a few of the ‘twigs’ still fairly thick at the far end – and snaps cleanly and dry at that end. Try and avoid a too bigger base (the ‘white head’) as this is quite bitter in taste, and generally not a great taste! ...and its very hard to pound!

Most sellers will have a selection of all types of grog…youll see the difference when you get there…ask that it is wrapped in paper, and tied with twine (or the string they use). if youre not happy with the ways it presented, then redo when your on the island…get help!

Well wrapped, Good looking, strong tasting grog will earn you some Vorovoro friends very quickly…..

Your TW Team member should guide you on whats good and whats not! expect to haggle, enjoy the hustle & bustle and noise & smells of Labasa market, try to purchase from a fijian seller, greet there ‘Bula’ with a ‘Bula’ back, and enjoy your first step into your journey oflearning, respecting and participating in Fijian culture….

...the next step will be presenting your Sevusevu – which your tribal chief or fellow tribe members will explain to you on Vorovoro…enjoy it, have fun, and you can never have too much grog…...

I guess the only difference is that grog is accepted with a lot more passion and feeling, and deeper meanings…

(for chiefs – i recommend finding one good seller, and sticking with them for your month – then when you come to buy grog for your Tatou (reverese sevusevu – announce your departure)...you may get a good deal!

(image pic shows good thick grog, but perhaps the head is too thick….but dont worry too much….and my Tatou was very longgggggg grog, but you can bend it over at the top , and tuck it in!)
(for extra points, wrap your grog in your favourite UK Tabloid newspaper!!!)

TALO NA YAQONA!