The Kava Shack - Coffee and Kava - Kava Bar Experience

Review is long over due. We are new to the Kava/Kratom culture and decided to stop in after hitting the beach. Place is pretty chill and relaxing. Bartender was very nice. We stopped in back in July and never had a chance to review. Plan on stopping in again soon.

This is the best kava bar I've ever been to. The vibe is very relaxed and calm. The fairy lights help make it feel very peaceful. It's close to the beach so you can grab a drink and walk down to the beach for a while to enjoy it, then come back and get another drink. They have books to read, games to play, DVDs to watch, and a pool table. Lots of comfy seating of different kinds! Truly inspired me for the kava bar I plan to open soon!

The atmosphere is still very calm and inviting. However, I don't appreciate how they replaced everyone who built this place up. Bartenders are friendly and great. Management is laughable.

I just moved to St Pete full time less than a month ago; but since my partner has lived here and is a Specialty, Euphoric & Botanical tea connoisseur I have had the pleasure of trying pretty much every shop as soon as it opens up. He had talked about this place to me but I hadn't had the pleasure of walking thru that door and stepping into MGMT'S "Electric Feel" video of a store and I was mesmerized; I mean that in the best way possible! The peoplez including and mostly the employees were just AMAZING! They made you feel like an old regular and it's a store that has a family vibe to it. The tea tender (is that a real title? If not I'm still using it) was great, the service, efficiency, kindness, their willingness to adjust my tea flavors to something that would suit me based on my initial request, etc. They were engaging, fun, funny and approachable. Ever since I quit drinking alcohol a few years ago I thought I'd never have nights like this was again because in your early, mid, late 20's (or even past that if you're unlucky enough, lol 🫠) the nights revolve around alcohol. I was so excited when kratom and kava tea shops started popping up and I'm glad it's grown to be as big of an industry as it has so far. As a recovering anything, inevitably you're going to have to spend time with people who are just regular/casual/binge or even extremely problematic drinkers who don't think "just one" drink will hurt you. They are EXPERTS you see, they've been drinking since before you were born, even if they're younger than you. The problem is that you just 'don't know how to do it right' or 'youre drinking the wrong thing' etc... If you've had to deal with what I was just mimicking, you know these obnoxious overbearing, drunker by the second roaches that seemingly crawl out of nowhere whenever they hear anyone say "I don't drink." So they can justify their own wrongdoings. I didn't initially use kratom to get off of alcohol in initially but once those evenings where mt friends were going out and I would start to experience FOMO I would just hit up a new kava or kratom shop with a lounge area to hang out at. This changed me completely. I haven't drank in over two years, I hardly ever drink kratom anymore, maybe once or twice a month at the most and I am grateful I didn't let myself replace one substance with another but allowed myself to keep access to something that can help with my physical anxiety when it doesn't go away for days or weeks sometimes. I just recently moved here from Tampa and had been frequenting, and kratom shops all over the Tampa Bay area. Most of them are very similar with some do stand out. This is one of the ones that stands out and one of the ones I will contain go back to whether it's to chill, whether it's for the, or whether it's for the kratom. I just enjoyed the environment altogether.

Everything is way overpriced. They serve Kava out of a big dirty bucket with a laddle. (Nothing beats sipping on a 2ft coarse hippie hair in your 20 dollar beverage.) I'd say the staff is friendly but it's a Faux friendliness and you are constantly being judged. Not saying it as a bad thing just saying this is a place where Biden and Kamala voters come to hug each other and give each other unwarranted compliments. Best thing about this place is it's location by far. Hopefully something other then this drug den full of addicts buys it out.