Did British sailors drink kava from Pacific bowls?

British sailors drank kava during Pacific voyages from the late 1700s onward. Captain James Cook wrote about kava ceremonies after visits to Tonga and Fiji. Crew members described large communal bowls placed in front of village chiefs, the drink came from crushed kava root mixed with water inside carved wooden vessels. Sailors often found the taste earthy and bitter and some reports compared the numb feeling after drinking kava with mild medicine used in Europe at the time. Pacific hosts treated the bowl with respect during formal meetings, where a server carried coconut-shell cups around the gathering after mixing finished. British museums later received several bowls collected during naval expeditions and the British Museum still holds Pacific bowls gathered during the 18th and 19th centuries. Historians say kava ceremonies helped visiting sailors gain trade access with local communities, as whalers and missionaries joined similar gatherings during the 1800s.