Purple Lotus Kava Bar — Restaurant in Miami Beach

I was in Miami on Business. I had one half of a day of free time and discovered there was a kava bar on south beach ! I took a Lyft over to South Beach (Miami is a Lyft city, not Uber) and made my way down to Purple Lotus after lunch and a walk on the beach. Just look for the place near where surfers park. There's comfy chairs and tables out front, but I went inside for the bar and wifi. There's a strong Polynesian vibe upon entering. I parked myself at the bar and was immediately approached by the bar tender. The menu is mounted in a set of great white shark jaws. While kratom tea sounds nice, my mission was a nice kava session. I ordered a single serving of the house varietal, which was served in a coconut shell with a glass of water (nice touch, especially if you're not accustomed to the taste). I spent the next couple of hours drinking kava and working on my laptop while an excellent choice of modern reggae/dub (Damien Marley, Sol Seeds, Stick Figure, etc.) played on the big screen over the bar. The patrons were all smart people talking shop in skilled fields and working their laptops, and the bar tender was super accommodating and laid back. In summary I was in my element here. My third serving was the Vanuatu varietal, which the tender gladly prepared for me in a to-go container. I definitely recommend the Vanuatu if you're new to Kava and are unaccustomed to it's effects. I think the kava was stronger at Low Tide in St. Petersburg but that's many hours away and to be honest the distance practically makes it almost apples to oranges. 4/5 - highlight of my solo...

I liked this place — loved the atmosphere and the crowd that showed up. Felt close to a west coast place, but with the good parts leaving the bad if that makes sense haha

I DO think the kava-tenders, and by definition the owners through better hires or training, could do a better job at welcoming 1st timers/newbies. I had a few very brief experiences at a music festival/house gatherings with kava/Kratom (never together) many years ago and I didn’t feel there was any info graphics readily available to help guide my experience on what to expect, as well as what to do/not do as basically a first timer.

Because of this - I had a few innocent questions before partaking about mixing with alcohol, to drink slowly/fast, how long it was supposed to take to feel anything/how long it may last —- all of these could of been remedied with some simple infographics or pamphlets laying around, or a QR code to scan — “New here? questions and concerns— scan here”. If a tender is too busy/annoyed to help basic questions they could simply hand you a flier or QR code to scan.

As it stood— the tenders were almost Annoyed to answer my questions? and they weren’t so busy that they couldn’t… that made me feel unwelcome and this was exclusive for regulars and experienced people only.. not the environment I would expect for something so cool of a concept and crowd hanging out.

Although my first experience wasn’t ideal— I do think these are easy remedies if the owners take to heart and/or just an off night. I wish...

The best! I go several times a week. In a city filled with bars and clubs trying to sling booze and drugs in your face, it is a great place to go meet people and have good, clean-ish fun (wouldn't necessarily recommend bringing children, though-it's still South Beach lol). Staff is amazing (I can't even recommend a particular server they are all so great), vibe is chill, music is on point, and patrons are very open and friendly. Probably the only place where people will actively come up and introduce themselves without any provocation. Very pet friendly. You'll often find people playing chess, doing yoga/handstands, petting dogs, studying, or just having a fun time socializing with people. Oh and kava. There's that too :) always go for the Komodo, but approach with caution. Their kava/kratom mix will decrease inhibitions, but uplift and energize providing a great tool for socializing or putting on some headphones and knocking out a couple dozen spreadsheets for work. For kava it doesn't taste toooo bad, either. Still tastes like dirt, but the highest quality:) Be careful though, because too much will make you a bit sick. I would definitely recommend this place to any hard-working, good-hearted people out there who want to meet people outside of the whole...