Want somewhere to hang out and meet new people? Want a relaxing atmosphere that offers healthy, non-alcoholic and delicious drinks? Try the new Kava Bar in Olympia, Golden Hour Exotic Tea.
Chadd Cate, one of the owners and manager of Golden Hour Exotic tea explains that Kava is short for Kava Kava, a plant in the pepper family that is mildly intoxicating. “It’s a little euphoric, and relieves anxiety, helps with sociability,” he explains. It’s said to have similar effects as alcohol, without the side effects.
Born and raised in Olympia, Chadd spent several years working in hospitality and restaurant design jobs and traveling. During his travels, he would always seek out Kava bars as a way to connect with locals. “I would go out of my way to be able to go to one of these Kava bars and hang out for a little bit,” he shares. “It was always really nice to meet and connect with the locals. They would share their favorite hiking spots or restaurants that I should check out or their favorite things around the town. And being born and raised here in Olympia, I knew we definitely needed something like that for our community as well.”
Golden Hour Exotic Tea Kava Bar in Olympia Serves Up Nutritional Drinks
So, when Chadd decided to move home due to his father’s health, it became the perfect opportunity to open his own Kava Bar. He took what he had seen at the 40-80 Kava bars he’s visited around the United States, and created a community gathering place for Olympia.
Picturing hot tea in bags with milk and sugar? Not at this tea hour! They take organic loose-leaf teas from the Frontier Coop, microbrew them in-house and then put them into kegs. Then flavorings are added and as well as carbonation. The carbonated teas are served cold, like soda.
Another unique item on their menu is Irish sea moss. Before you dismiss it though, give this nutrient-dense superfood a try. “I believe it has 92 minerals in it,” shares Chadd. “It’s just really packed full and is also easily absorbable.” Golden Hour Exotic Teas gets the raw plant and processes it. “You process it and put it in the fridge and it naturally turns into a gelatin-like substance.” The result is salty, he says, being from the sea. You can buy jars of both golden and purple Irish sea moss at the tea house to take home, or try their pineapple sea moss shot.
All of the Golden Hour Exotic Teas are basically supplements, full of minerals, herbs and other healthful additives. For example, the Capital Lake Walk has dandelion root, chamomile, milk thistle seed, stinging nettle, chicory root and blackberry flavor. The new Gourmet Seven is full of seven medicinal mushrooms and is cantaloupe flavor. For this reason, Chadd recommends rotating teas and not drinking too much of one tea all at once, so you don’t get overloaded on one particular supplement, which can cause side effects.
Looking for Kava? Due to its properties, it’s not on the standard menu, just ask the staff are happy to talk to you about it and their current offerings.
New Olympia Hang Out Spot for All Ages
One thing about a Kava bar that’s not different from other tea houses is that they want you to take your time and enjoy your tea! While the bar area is currently for 18+, the rest of the tea house is all ages with plenty of games to play including ping pong, pool and board games. “It’s been cool to see mom and boy, dad and girl, come in and they can play Connect Four, then play pool and then play ping pong and then play foosball, and just build that quality time with one another,” says Chadd. “That’s definitely been the intention. They have also worked hard to give those over 18 but under 21 a cool place to hang out until they are old enough for bars.
Later this year they will be adding a hot milk tea for our cold winter weather to their menu. It will be a lavender black tea with lavender milk.
They don’t serve food, which Chadd said was a conscientious decision. “The intention was to come in and not compete with the local coffee bars and cafes in Olympia,” shares Chadd. “They are all doing a wonderful job at what they do.” For that reason, he encourages people to bring food from the local restaurants to Golden Hour Exotic Tea to enjoy with their tea. They may offer baked goods in the future from a local bakery.
If you are looking for a place to connect with locals, learn about the area, meet new friends or enjoy a non-alcoholic atmosphere while getting your daily vitamins in a tasty way, you may want to try Golden Hour Exotic Tea. Follow the Golden Hour Exotic Tea on Facebook to learn about upcoming events including tournaments.
