What exactly are the differences between ATB and STB? I've tried an A/B once, with the vinegar boil, without ph meter or papers. I used a bunk sodium hydroxide mixture that turned out to be more mixture than hydroxide. It turned out terribly, no crystals, then the jug exploded. I had used 400g of mimosa. End of ATB for me.

I've done about 6-7 STB extractions now, and they have worked wonderfully! I always get white/off-white crystals with a waxy texture. Potency is awesome! Been using 100% lye as well.

BUT.....

the curious human in me wonders if an ATB is worth trying again? What could I get from an ATB extraction, that I wouldn't with STB, as far as quality or experience goes?

Thanks!

I am guessing that you mean "acid to base" when saying ATB, yeah?

If so, then i would give it another chance. I have mainly done STB's as well and only ever get good results. I did try an acid/base a few months ago and didn't see that much difference in yields and quality. People usually say you get a cleaner product with A/B extractions, but i haven't done enough of them to prove it right or wrong. If you have enough bark to experiment with i say go for it! It's good to know different techniques to extracting, as you can then use that knowledge to extract different alkaloids from other plants with the peace of mind that you already know the basic procedure.

I am sure other Nexians with more experience with A/B's can tell you how they compare to STB's in more detail, but i thought i would share my thoughts on it anyways

Always vent your jug occasioally, especially when first adding NaOH to your vinegar mimosa wine.....it builds up a lot of pressure quickly!!!

I have done both. STB's in my experience produce crystals that need a lot of cleaning (I was using a glass vaporizer at the time).

A/B seems to be better, never traps any naphtha, doesn't give weird results ever (brown death)....

Meh, it's really a personal choice from everything I've read. Many really like STB's and have wonderful success with them!

i have only done STB extractions and had very good results so for me no need to do diferent technique. last time i got 1.6g from 100g of mimosa.

Sweet, so I guess I'm not missing out on anything TOO amazing, as far as acid to base goes. This is a relief, considering STBs seem to ALWAYS yield awesome amounts.

One thing I did notice the last couple of extractions, was decreasing yields. I started with 500g of mimosa, doing each extraction w/ 100g or so...the last two yielded almost half of the first extractions...I didn't change anything up, all the same ingredients...Is there any explanation of why this would happen? I've heard mimosa can stay fresh for a long time, in a dark dry area, and I have been doing so. First couple of extractions, and I got about as much as Smokerx, maybe 1.3/1.4....Well, these last two extractions, it seems like the highest amount I got was .7/.9...I mean, I'm still stoked with the yield, but is there any reason the amount would lessen?

are you sure you have not changed anything ? same amounts of everything ? think about it ... if not than i can not see any reason why would you get only that much spice. try to put naptha back to freezer for longer time. what about freezer any fault ? you really need like -15 to get all spice out of it. try evaporate some naptha to see if there is more spice left in it. something went wrong thats for sure you have to figure it out. do you still have the lye, water, mhrb mix ? if yes maybe try another pull with fresh naptha. that remaining spice has to be somewhere i dont know what else to suggest ...

ive kinda started doing a mix of both teks i use acidified water instead of normal water when doing an stb, even on powedered bark, i dunno if it makes any difference though an weather using acidified water is pointless when doing stb. id have thought it would help a lil with shredded bark thats not so powdered up.

edt: nevermind
LOL v