Water vs Ethanol extraction

[cactuswren]

Being curious about ayahuasca, someone recently acquired the ingredients to make a brew. At the same time, he acquired a cactus powder labeled as T. Pachanoi from a different source. First, using the preparation given on the ayahuasca forum, he prepared a brew from 130 gm of cappi, 20gm of Diplopterys cabrerana (Chaliponga), and 40 gm of Psychotria viridis (Chacruna). This was divided into 2 doses. 45 minutes after the first dose, nothing was felt. It should be mentioned that the herbs were selected from the advised supplier and as being the best strain of each herb offered. After the 2nd dose, a slight effect was noticed which included a heightened state of awareness. This was nothing like he was expecting. That's what happens when you have expectations. A few days later he experimented with the cactus powder using the pressure cooker preparation described in nan's tek. Even at a dose of 90mg, only a minimum effect was noticed [like 1 medium sized peyote], though more than from the aya brew. My friend wondered if all the psychedelics he did 20-30 yrs ago [LSD, lots of peyote, shrooms] may have permanently altered his neurotransmitter receptors. After reflecting on this, he thought about the herbal tincture method he had used for the past 20 years to treat physical ailments. He took the remaining 70gm of caapi, 5mg of chaliponga, and 10mg of chacruna and put them in a glass jug with 75% ethanol [dilute everclear] and a few tbs of 6% vinegar. Though he let his other medicinal herbs macerate for 14 days, he only let this soak for 2 days. That's it; 48 hrs. Just because; he also added 30gm of the cactus powder. The herbs were strained through cloth and evaporated down to 3oz in a double boiler which removed the alcohol. He reported that consuming this induced a state approximately twice that in intensity of the 90mg of pressure cooked powder and many fold that of the initial aya brew. He wasn't certain if it was mostly due to one substance or if it was a synergistic effect [he had not used any form of DMT before this]. He did state that it had a different feeling than he remembered of mescaline containing cacti. He also said that he would be using ethanol extractions for all future ethnobotanical adventures and that he would try 60mg of the cactus by itself to compare the two experiences. Though it is advised to not combine MAO inhibitors with cactus, he reported no negative reaction. This may have been due to weak caapi, cactus, or both. It may be best to head the warnings. I found it interesting that a short cold ethanol soak seemed to work much better than an extensive simmer or pressure cook method.

[cactuswren]

Anyplace I wrote "mg" it was meant to be "gm"; grams not milligrams.