(SWIM was unsure where to place this topic, he initially thought harmalas because it seems to work best with them....)

SWIM apologizes if this is old news, but he has heard many complains from people with the taste/nausea/potency of brews and 90% of the time the brew is simmered. SWIM hopes this can help at least a few people as much as it has helped him.

The log of how SWIM "discovered" and honed the tek is below (he highly doubts he is the first one to do this though)

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NOTE: with cactus brews freezing the brew then thawing it will release more mescaline, SWIM did not know this was true for dried cactus when he wrote the tek.

The advent of Cold-Water-Extraction of caapi to reduce nausea and increase potency has gotten a lot of attention. That is because it works well for both of those. The problems is no one is going to drink 7.5 litres of brew for 50g worth of caapi and because of it being called cold-water people are afraid to reduce it for fear of loss, which is seldom the truth.

SWIM's tek works on the fact that steam (caused by boiling or simmering water) has different solubility than water and put plainly often pull a lot of non-active gunk.

"By adding water or steam, the boiling points of the compounds are depressed, allowing them to evaporate at lower temperatures -Wikipedia"

By adding hot water but not boiling, no steam is hitting the substance being brewed so none of the gunk is pull, in all cases SWIM's tried the actives have been pulled with almost identical concentration of that of a simmered brew but with (subjectively) identical properties of a cold water brew.

The tek also utilizes a very simple visual approach to brewing, which though very logical and simple, is much harder to do with the often-cloudy simmered brews.

Lastly the brews made with this method can be MUCH easier filtered, SWIM has filtered his cactus brew through a coffee filter without issue!



The Tek:

Materials:
Take 2 containers, 1000ml on bigger, preferably with a wide top.
2 or 3 smaller containers
metal sifter
coffee filters or piece of cloth (T-shirt, cut from a towel, dish cloth, sock)
kettle or stove with saucepan
An herb/plant or substance with water-soluble substances in it... (MHRB, cactus, MG/HBWR, syrian rue, caapi, sassafras, etc)

Note: If this is done with morning glory or HBWR seeds the same process should be done but with cold water rather than hot.


-Start boiling some water (1000ml or more usually) in your pot or kettle

-Prepare a known amount of the herb/plant and place in one of the containers

-Once boiling remove the water from the heat until bubble no longer rise from the bottom.

-Slowly pour the water over the herb. Make sure it is more than enough to cover the it.

Depending on which herb/plant a certain amount of water will taken to saturate it.
After that water the amount of water needed will be usually between 10-15ml per gram of product and it seems best to separate that quantity into 2-3 pulls.
(at least for all of the herbs SWIM has worked with.)

-Stir the mix thoroughly periodically. Generally it should only take 15-20 minutes for the brew to stop gaining color.

-Let the mix settle (do not skip this step) so there is a clear median between the plant/herb and the water above.

-Prepare a filter by using a metal sifter with a cloth filter on top of it, have it sit over the empty container.
A sifter works well because it can be held in one hand while the mix is poured through for small amounts or placed on the rim of a container for larger amounts.
(anything that can hold a piece of cloth and have a very hot brew poured through it would work **not your hands**)

-Decant the mix into the second container through the cloth filter, pour only until right before any of the herb spills out (with shredded caapi it could be all of it). You can let the mix settle for a minute and pour a little more out if you'd like.

(>''>

-Boil up some more water. Let it cool so bubble no longer rise from the bottom and pour over the herb for the second pull

-Mix periodically over 10-15 minutes then let it settle as before.

-Take a close look at the difference in color between the clear brew above the herb and the last pull. This pull will be lighter than the first for sure.

In every herb SWIM has worked with this color was indicative of the desired substance, whether it was the substance itself with the color, it seems that most of the substances in herbs have similar solubility and deplete and the same rate.

This fact is key to the tek, once the color no longer changes, the herb has been depleted of the desired substance.
(At least with every herb SWIM has worked with)

-Decant off a small amount (enough to see the color clearly) through the filter into one of the smaller containers.

-Decant the rest through the filter into the second large container, the one that contains the first pull. Once again only until right before the herb starts pouring out.

(>''>


-Repeat the same steps between the (>''> (Kirbys) as many times as is needed until the pull is the same color as the the previous one. Generally this is 2-3 and in the range of 10-15ml per gram as previously stated

NOTE: with cactus brews freezing the brew then thawing it will release more mescaline, SWIM did not know this was true for dried cactus when he wrote the tek.

If the brew is too large volume then in most cases it can be simmered down without any effect on the potency, reason being that the herb/plant itself is not being simmered so none of the gunk with be dissolved.

The brew can then be consumed as is, flavored, or thrown out if it contains any illegal substances.
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Tek testing log:

SWIM has been working with many herbs containing psychedelics for a while now.

He has had many great trips with strong and profound results but more often than not he ended up with nothing or a mild buzz and often some nausea.

Having tested so many techniques and doses (ALWAYS measuring) he has like many others become quite good at judging competitive doses, purity and is moderately good at changing current teks to fit his needs or make them better.

One of the biggest techniques that SWIM has been perfecting for a while now is Hot-Water-Extraction"

SWIM being an fellow to question everything thought "If cold water can do that, why couldn't room temperature water?"
he pondered for a bit and thought "and if room temperature water works then where is the point that it stops working?"

SWIM's herb of choice was dried Peruvian Torch cactus powder (from HP) causing lots of nausea and mescaline being somewhat unstable under heat it seemed to work.

Having already tested:
30g of Achuma in a simmered brew
30g of San Pedro in a simmered brew
325mg of unwashed alkaloids from San pedro
20g of Peruvian torch dried powder straight
20g of a simmered brew of Peruvian torch dried powder
35g of a simmered brew of Peruvian torch dried powder

he had some basis of comparison.



He performed several tests to answer those questions:

Note: SWIM noticed in the first experience that once the brew stopped acquiring an red-brown color from cactus the brew would no longer be bitter and was assumed to contain no mescaline. This taste test was performed alongside much of the color judging, but since the color represented the bitterness in the later experiments tasting was not done.

Test 1:
Room Temp (~16-18C) extraction of 25g
5 pulls of 750ml were done. The last 2 pulls were exactly the same color and were not bitter at all.
The first 3 pulls were filtered through cloth, combined and consumed.
The texture was comparable to apple juice (ever so slightly thicker than water)
The taste almost identical to that of a simmered brew

Note:Since it seemed that simmering did not destroy the mescaline potency in comparison to cold water brews he reduced some of the brews if they were large amounts.

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The effects were just what he would have expected from 25g of torch.
The nausea was much much stronger than the 20g of simmered brew he previously took.
SWIM figured that the nausea goes up in a non-linear fashion which his later tests would also suggest.

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Test 2:
Hot tap water (45-60C) extraction done on 50g

SWIM noticed that after mixing several times over 10-20 minutes the brew would no longer change color at all compared to mixing several times over 2 hours. He also noticed that after 10 minutes or so the mix would settle completely with a clear and light amber/crimson layer above. This could simply be poured off without disturbing the powder and filtered very quickly through a cloth and could also pass through a coffee filter!

It took 1000ml worth of hot tap water before the color stopped changing. or about 20ml/gram of torch
This is not total water but only counting the water decanted off from above the gelatinous cactus.

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The next bio-essay was done not of the bitter brew but the 500ml of brew pulled from the 50g after the 1000ml and the last two 750ml pulls from the first batch reduced.

The combination seemed to be equal to that of 5g of torch SWIM proposed. So he made sure to always keep the last pull regardless of it's lack of red or bitterness thereafter.

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Next test was of 800ml of the 1000ml from the 50g hot tap water brew. Containing the alkaloids from 37-39g of powder most likely.

in order to reduce the nausea he took half the brew, then 35 minutes later the second half.
This successfully reduced the nausea to exactly of that of 20g of simmered brew

The results were strong, but only slightly stronger than the 35g of simmered brew, that of course made perfect sense.
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SWIM had supposed that it was the steam of simmering water that caused the difference in consistency for cactus and taste + potency + nausea in caapi. This test of boiling but not heated (thus no steam) water would try to confirm that suspicion.

Test 3:
Water was boiled in a kettle then let settle until bubble no longer rose from the bottom.
Added to 30g of torch powder.
It took 391ml or 12ml/ gram of torch powder including the last non-bitter pull.
The brew's texture, taste and color (while a tad more concentrated) was identical to that of

SWIM took this brew with datura inoxia and passionflower (one half first, then the second with the "passionoxia" no nausea felt) to lessen the stimulation but it was easy to tell the mescaline effects from the effects of the "passionoxia" and they were exactly what would be expected from 30g.

(The passionoxia by the way completely muted the stimulation and then some more, 1.5tbsp of passionflower and 6-10 seeds would likely be adequate, SWIM took 3tbsp and 12 seeds)

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Other tests:

Hot tap water extraction of 50g caapi
Required about 25-30ml per gram, slight nausea (possible from the nearly 2000ml consumed) and strong effects with visuals on (most of) 50g of brew

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The final pull was reduced down to the color of the brew and produced effects exactly what would be expected of that much of the brew (probably 5-6 grams worth), very mild but still felt.

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Boiling water extraction of 25g caapi
Required about 20ml per gram, was taken with 2.5g of psilocybe cubensis and potentiated the visuals and trip to great than that of 4.25g of cubensis plain.
Nausea felt as expected, ended up purging after 1.5 hours.

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Room temp extraction of 50g morning glory seeds
40ml per gram before the brew no longer acquired color.
There was a wash with canola oil prior to the extraction to remove some of the toxins.
6-7g worth of the brew consumed and a mild and pleasant experience without any aches and only the mildest nausea
(when the brew went inactive after 1 week SWIM figured he should have done less)

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Boiling water extraction done on 60g of syrian rue.
large amount of water used, probably more than was needed.
Syrian rue maybe need >20ml per gram SWIM thinks.
The brew was filtered through a coffee filter (after a cloth) and freebased.
Yield will not be mentioned because there was a large spill before completion and SWIM is not very good at the extraction, not yet

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Final notes:

While the hot water brewing technique did not reduce the nausea of the cactus brew, neither did the cold water extraction, that should be noted.

Interestingly SWIM made a resin from a cactus tea and it was HARD and brittle and dark red/brown instead of brown and gooey.

As long as the water is not simmering or boiling the brew will remain virtually identical to that of a cold water brew. It only takes 15-20 minutes for each pull and color-judging has worked to judge when 95% of more of the actives have been dissolved.

You may have noticed SWIM did not use acid in any of these tests. He has used it in the past and he believe only if the alkaloids are to be freebased does this create an advantage as acetates freebase faster than the natural salts in MHRB, though SWIM doesn't thinking this is true of cactus from experience.

This page is not necessarily complete. Ask any questions you'd like and if it teaches SWIM my something new or reminds SWIM of something that was not noted he will add it.


Cheers

Thanks for posting this! Thorough reports like this are always useful.