Manoa Hawaii 2006 – the journey began in a small studio where Steve George and his curiosity about kava led him to pursue a mission to help people relax in an increasingly stressful world. Steve got tinkering and figured out how to make an unconventional kava drink with different flavor profiles and even played with carbonation to help with the taste. His handiwork paid off when his creation won the People’s Choice Award at Oahu’s Kava Festival! He would hand deliver cases of these drinks to natural health food stores around the island in his old Toyota 4-runner.

With distribution being expensive for beverages and no luck of finding existing solutions in the market, Steve got back to work and started developing a light candy that could be easily shipped and tasted “good” for bitter kava standards.  After a few years of trial and error, hours and hours by the oven, and sticky candy molds overflowing; Ozia Originals was officially born!

Prototypes in every flavor you can imagine were created with some being great and others being really bad.  The challenge in working with good noble kava is that it is naturally very bitter.  The goal is to get a good balance between flavor vs. strength.  If too strong, it’s going to naturally be very bitter and not functional for daytime use.  If too weak, people won’t get that kava feel but will still get that earthy kava taste.

Kava Kava Candy has become the on-the-go solution for stress relief and available in three bold flavors – Orange, Ginger-Mint and Coconut Cream – Steve’s invention has made its way to 34 countries on 6 different continents selling millions of pieces of candy!

“We’re more than happy to assist with any questions you may have and always love hearing how our kava candies have helped make your lives a little easier and a little better.  Thanks for being part of the Ozia family!”

Aloha, Steve George Owner of Ozia Originals