Preparation of the beverage

On important ceremonial occasions, the taupou makes the kava as part of her official duties. For lesser occasions an unmarried girl of the family presides over the bowl, and for ordinary drinking, a young man, irrespective of rank, may perform the duty.

A mat is spread at the back of the middle section of the house. The taupou seats herself often with a female companion on either hand. The one on the right attends to the water. The bowl with the strainer and the coconut shell cup are placed before the taupou. The attendant on the right takes the cup. The taupou always turns the bowl around until the suspensory lug with the hanging string is towards her. She dusts out the bowl with the strainer. The kava root which has been pounded outside is brought wrapped up in a leaf and handed to the taupou who pours it into the bowl. The taupou turns to the right rear, holds out her cupped hands to the girl on her right who pours some water into them. The maid never omits to wash her hands in this fashion. The attendant then pours some water into the bowl. Formerly this was done from a coconut water bottle, now it is dipped from a bucket with the cup. The maid proceeds to work the material with both hands to promote the dissolving and mixing of the powdery part of the pounded root. The fau strainer is spread out along the near circumference of the bowl and allowed to become soaked. It is then pushed clown along the bottom and the sides to scoop up the undissolved material. At the far side of the bowl, the ends are brought in to overlap and enclose what has been caught up. The scooping movement is called ao. The strainer is brought up out of the fluid on the palms of both hands directed upwards. It is doubled over and twisted with both hands to wring out (tatau) the fluid. All the fluid being expressed, the maid glances back and throws the folded strainer with precision between, the wall posts to an attendant waiting outside on the house platform. The young man catches it in the air, opens it out and by successive flickings gets rid of the pieces of wood. The strainer is tossed back, caught before it can touch the floor and the maid continues the ao process. A good deal of style is imparted to the wringing by tossing up the folded strainer to reverse its page 154position and by swings of the elbows and graceful movements of the forearms. When all the larger pieces are removed, the ao movements are changed to fa'apulou (fa'a, like; pulou, head covering). In fa'apulou, the opened-out strainer is dropped on the surface and pressed down to the bottom to pick up the powdery parts that remain undissolved. The outside attendant is no longer needed as the maid after wringing the strainer turns her body to the right rear, opens out the strainer and flicks it herself from where she is seated. She also imparts style to her movements in wiping the sides and upper edges of the bowl with quick upward sweeping turns at the end of each movement. She also wipes any pieces adhering to her hands before she flicks the strainer. The chief who supervises the distribution of the kava, if the speeches are over, may shorten the period of the ao movements by ordering the maid to go on with the fa'apulou by calling, "Fa'apulou le 'ava."

All the undissolved material having been strained off, the maid drops the strainer into the bowl and lifting it high allows the fluid to stream down. From the color, the strength is judged. It is stated that the experts judge by the sound of the falling liquid. If too strong, more water is added.