Sitting in Berkeley, CA Kava Bar MeloMelo
- Thread starter starscolliding
- Start date
That's good to hear. I had some really bad second day effects after drinking their house kava. May be just too much DHM for me while still being noble. I don't know.That place looks in desperate need of window tinting and darker wall paint.
I talked to these guys before they opened and they brought up, unprovoked, being interested in noble kavas only.
I agree that they went too stark and white with the decor. It's like the Apple Store of kava bars. I do like their wooden bar. It's beautiful. And their couches and lounging areas are really comfortable and fun to relax in. They provide lots of beautiful photographic coffee table books, games like Cards against Humanity, and blank sketchbooks to draw in for people. Definitely fun to hang out with friends there. I've been a few times with some middle aged guys I know and it's been a nice place to chill on a Sunday afternoon.
Pacifico
Kava Enthusiast
Or an amplified didgeridoo like the one I was last at last month. I recently introduced my best friend to kava. He drives by one in St. Pete most night a week. He says he'd stop if it weren't for the people outside juggling and doing tai chi. What he means (and what I mean) is that it is disappointing that kava has to be so "alternative" or weird here (USA). It's almost like taking Japanese in college. I have not been to Melo Melo so I have no reason to believe that the vibe is lame but one thing I don't undertand is why the paint is so white. A muted shade of paint is too easy to do. (Cool pics nevertheless.)
Pacifico
Kava Enthusiast
There you go. Apple Store. Or Dalí exhibit.
HeadHodge
Bula To Eternity
I stole the chemistry pic from their site for the kavapedia. I think it's pretty neat.
Wonder if they will do like BKH and eventually sell some product online?
verticity
I'm interested in things
I'd actually like to see that kind of entertainment at a kava bar.
Cozy seating as well. I'm starting to think it's part of the business model, make the environment the least conducive to the effects of kava as possible, to ensure the requirement of many shell purchases to achieve proper psychoactive satisfaction.
Half joking.
Half joking.
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Pacifico
Kava Enthusiast
To be fair, it is cool that @starscolliding got to visit. There are only a handful of these bars in the country. We have no idea if the idea will gain popularity or fall flat. I know that the vast majority of people here (forum/United States) will never purchase freshly prepared kava to drink before heading home after work or meet up at a kava joint with their friends on their birthday. It could be worse. This could be Florida style. Kava, K@, and More where tattoo collectors go to blow hookah bubbles and get krunked. This place is in Berkley, which indicates to me that it must cost some money to visit. Yes?
starscolliding
Kava Curious
KavaDude - actually once it got dark they did turn on, I'm not sure if Neon, but bring blue and red and similar lighting 
...
Well - as for the white - in direct sun - and it does get direct sun at 4 PM for example, it is very bright and stark, but once the sun is down they are able to use the white wall as a place to project the nature video, which is projected to something like 8 feet or more wide. I found that very fun. And the white walls do good things with the red/green/etc. lights at night. But, yes, at 4 PM it is very bright. They might consider at least tniting just the direction the sun comes in, I think ot only comes in one of the two sides with glass.
Yes - the crowd surprised me. Certianly a mix of people, but I think anyone I know would have been comfortable there, a bunch of 'normal' (whatever that means) people and some 'fun' people. And yes, I was also a little surprised about the gender mix. Lots of women actually. And people were overall open and willing chat at least for a few minutes.
The stool may look terribly uncomfortable in that image, but they are well padded on the inside. Not much of a back though. What I did was keep a place at the bar and use my jacket to aslo keep a place on the lounging couches mentioned above. So I'd sit at the bar a bit and drink, and then go lay down as well. Worked great for me.
As an amateur but very interested woodworker I should have gotten a pic of the bar - it is indeed very beautiful and well done.
Rishi - very funny! Yeah, I could tell one person I think may have guessed that I was taking pictures and didn't look happy so I had to be very incognito and quick about it.
They did have music on, and once I was really in the Kava it was a little loud, but certainly not loud for a normal situation, and they did ask a few people during the night if it was too loud, so that was nice to hear.
...Well - as for the white - in direct sun - and it does get direct sun at 4 PM for example, it is very bright and stark, but once the sun is down they are able to use the white wall as a place to project the nature video, which is projected to something like 8 feet or more wide. I found that very fun. And the white walls do good things with the red/green/etc. lights at night. But, yes, at 4 PM it is very bright. They might consider at least tniting just the direction the sun comes in, I think ot only comes in one of the two sides with glass.
Yes - the crowd surprised me. Certianly a mix of people, but I think anyone I know would have been comfortable there, a bunch of 'normal' (whatever that means) people and some 'fun' people. And yes, I was also a little surprised about the gender mix. Lots of women actually. And people were overall open and willing chat at least for a few minutes.
The stool may look terribly uncomfortable in that image, but they are well padded on the inside. Not much of a back though. What I did was keep a place at the bar and use my jacket to aslo keep a place on the lounging couches mentioned above. So I'd sit at the bar a bit and drink, and then go lay down as well. Worked great for me.
As an amateur but very interested woodworker I should have gotten a pic of the bar - it is indeed very beautiful and well done.
Rishi - very funny! Yeah, I could tell one person I think may have guessed that I was taking pictures and didn't look happy so I had to be very incognito and quick about it.
They did have music on, and once I was really in the Kava it was a little loud, but certainly not loud for a normal situation, and they did ask a few people during the night if it was too loud, so that was nice to hear.
starscolliding
Kava Curious
Steve - for 2nd day effects I was definitely very tired for the first 4 hrs of the day and then it lifted. Not sure how much you had, but I had at least 5 or 6 double shells (they call it high-tide, and low-tide for a single shell). We both probably had much more than the normal person so it probably then has the long term effect.
I think they do a great job of making it feel more upmarket, and not a place to buy M under the table or with a script. If felt very safe, comfortable and lots of well-to-do people in there, so I think they get that part exactly right from the KavaForums perspective. And the other drinks give it a good feel, relatively complex Kombuchea combinations and a few other options. I'd like to see them add some neuro drinks or something, even if they are dumb in the end, just having lots of 'fun' options that aren't easy to find elsewhere gives places a good feel. If it were a blended K@ and other kind of things like that other place mentioned above it wouldn't work for me at all and I don't think I would even go it.
I think they do a great job of making it feel more upmarket, and not a place to buy M under the table or with a script. If felt very safe, comfortable and lots of well-to-do people in there, so I think they get that part exactly right from the KavaForums perspective. And the other drinks give it a good feel, relatively complex Kombuchea combinations and a few other options. I'd like to see them add some neuro drinks or something, even if they are dumb in the end, just having lots of 'fun' options that aren't easy to find elsewhere gives places a good feel. If it were a blended K@ and other kind of things like that other place mentioned above it wouldn't work for me at all and I don't think I would even go it.
Really glad to hear it.