A. Kava Culture offers coffee and espresso drinks. B. Sisters Jacqueline, left, and Caroline Rusher founded Kava Culture in 2017. C. The company serves non-alcoholic cocktails with the option to add infusions such as kava or CBD.
The sober and sober-curious trend shows no signs of going away, and business owners are taking note. Kava Culture CEO and co-founder Jacqueline Rusher started the Florida-based franchise in 2017 with her sister, Caroline, to give customers the option to hang out in a social environment without alcohol.
“The cool thing about a kava bar is anybody from any walk of life will talk to each other,” Rusher said. “You don’t really see that anywhere else, where there’s a transgression of different generations all connecting.”
Kava is a plant from the Pacific Islands that’s said to elevate the consumer’s mood and induce relaxation. The substance is legal in the United States and sold as a dietary supplement, sometimes recommended for anxiety, insomnia or to be used as a muscle relaxer. Unlike alcohol, kava consumption doesn’t come with a hangover, and it doesn’t get the user drunk or impact motor skills.
“We call it a little plant buzz,” Rusher said. “If you think about having a cup of coffee and getting a boost, you get that, but more relaxed.”
Kava Culture has 10 corporate locations and eight franchise bars, with more agreements signed. Kava Culture bars are, on average, 1,800 square feet. Kava Culture has a botanical brewery called Botanical Brewing Co. where drinks are brewed in kegs and cans, while others are made on site, Rusher said.
Kava Culture offers drink infusions that can provide a variety of effects, such as “calm and social” or “energy and focus.” The company also offers federally legal cannabidiol, or CBD, infusions. These infusions go in Kava Culture’s cocktails, such as Choco-Cherry, with cherry, chocolate and almond cream; Pineapple Express, with pineapple, agave and lime juice; and Nutella Bomb, with hazelnut, chocolate and coconut cream.
The bars are open from morning until late, 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. During the day, customers are typically working professionals visiting to study or get work done, Rusher said. At night, the crowds are under 30 and there to replace the experience of a traditional bar. “They’re hanging out with these drinks instead of going to an alcohol bar,” she said.
With a background in banking, Rusher “hung up my fancy shoes and suits and put flip flops on,” she said. Her sister approached her about opening a kava bar, and while Rusher was apprehensive at first because of the risk that comes along with opening a food and beverage business, she invested later with the intent to be a “silent partner.”
“We opened our first one and then our second two months later and I just fell in love with it,” Rusher said. “I love the community. I absolutely love what we bring to the community.”
Franchisees are community-driven people, too, she said, and the “pretty simple model” attracts owners. “Really, it’s someone who takes that passion behind them and wants to be on the change wagon, somebody who wants to rethink and change the way we socialize in America,” Rusher said.
The model is scalable, and Kava Culture is receiving requests for multi-unit agreement options. With alcohol-centric bars, there could be a dozen on one street, and Rusher sees the same possibilities for kava bars.
Kava Culture provides in-depth training to its franchisees and staff, because the concept is unfamiliar to most. The bars are geared toward kava novices, so someone who knows nothing can be educated on the menu and the effects of the infusions, Rusher said.
In December, Mediterranean restaurant giant Cava sued Kava Culture to cancel its trademark, citing a possible cause for confusion and that the similar name has damaged Cava, according to the suit. As of late February, the case is ongoing.
Kava Culture is moving ahead. Rusher called Dry January—a month where many people opt to forgo alcohol as a fresh start to the new year—“a little bit of a kickoff,” but the brand’s bars draw crowds all year. Customers tell her, “I don’t really go to alcohol bars anymore. This is just more fun. I’d rather be here and not have a hangover the next day,” she said.
Post-pandemic, Kava Culture has seen a spike in customers, because everyone was isolating for so long and, in many instances, drinking alcohol more often at home. “They were looking for something the opposite of that,” Rusher said, “and that’s really what we provide.”