Long time ago Phalaris was the first plant tried to make an extract from, like the grass I was a bit green in those days and thought it would be easy, not, turns out phalaris is full of chlorophyll that needs gallons of solvent and multiple washes to get rid of. IMO a complete waste of time, compared with root bark it sucks, i would only use it if and when everything else is illegal and/or unobtainable, and if prohibitions continue to infringe that may well come to pass.

Long time ago Phalaris was the first plant tried to make an extract from, like the grass I was a bit green in those days and thought it would be easy, not, turns out phalaris is full of chlorophyll that needs gallons of solvent and multiple washes to get rid of. IMO a complete waste of time, compared with root bark it sucks, i would only use it if and when everything else is illegal and/or unobtainable, and if prohibitions continue to infringe that may well come to pass.

Has anyone tried brewing the Phalaris?

Anyone tried boiling it on low fire for 24+ hrs like San Pedro resin extractions?

Also... are any of you familiar with the BHO cannabis extraction? Maybe it could be another start to a new tek.

Gramine and other possibly toxic alkaloids easily migrate to the acqueous layer. Using phalaris as an ayahuasca analogue is not safe, you would be a guinea pig risking your health... Please do NOT ingest a crude phalaris brew.

16mg Bio-Assay
From Freddy:

16mg of the previously pictured goo was placed in a favorite dry bubbler, sandwiched between layers of old ganja ashes.

Heat was applied very gently and the contents inhaled in two hits, each hit held as long as possible. The beginning of the smoking process will be called T+00:00:00

T-00:00:30 Sent a text message to Phin and another good buddy saying "Testing a new extraction product. Wish me luck." It gives me peace of mind to know that one or the other of them will try to get in touch with me if I don't give an "all-clear" in 10 minutes, and will call the coast guard if they don't hear from me in 20

T+00:00:00 Smoking begins. Oh, the taste! That familiar, delicious, terrifying taste!

T+00:00:15 First hit inhaled. It is held for as long as possible. A slight...Buzzing?... is felt(heard) in the brain.

T+00:00:30 Second hit begins. Heart rate spikes, the beating of my heart is all I can focus on. It feels as though it is trying to break out of my chest. I am just scared, that is all.

T+00:01:00 Second hit exhaled. I settle down into a comfortable position and close my eyes.

T+00:01:30 I feel a wave of warmth flowing through my body, starting in my torso and gradually extending to my fingers and toes.

T+00:01:45 I hear something. It is not quite a sound, and not quite a hallucination. Sort of a "wha-wha-wha" type of sound...

T+00:02:00 Something is looking at me! I open my eyes, only to discover that I am alone. The fan (normally too fast to see clearly) is running exceptionally slow. I am confused and close my eyes.

T+00:02:10 The same Something seems to say, "Hey! Wait! Come Back! I/We had so much to show you! Why did you only peek around the corner?? We won't hurt you!" I do not 'hear' these words as much as 'feel' them...

T+00:2:30 I open my eyes again. The fan is running at normal speed. I can hear the faucet dripping 20 feet away through the closed door. I stand up.

T+00:02:45 I feel "floaty" and it is delicious. The woodgrain on the tiller is "dancing" and "flowing" for perhaps 5 seconds before it settles into a familiar pattern.

T+00:03:00 I am close enough to baseline to weigh anchor and head back to port. Looking forward to sleeping on Phin's couch on dry land tonight.

T+00:20:00 I am back to baseline in plenty of time to dock.

Interesting...

Let's get this thread back on track as an investigative thread where those of us who are interested in exploring this potentially interesting species may do so.

To those who seem not to have held back in voiceing their skepticism, I appreciate your concern, but, I'm a grown man and am fully capable of reading the available materials and making a decision reguarding where to invest my interests. Your belief or disbelief in the viability of this plant as an entheogen is irrelevent to the topic and adds only clutter and venom to the thread.

Brachystachys didn't invent Phalaris Brachystachys and really shouldn't be placed in the position of having to further justify his recommendation that others explore the plant . The grilling he's recieved and admirably (and patiently) defended against is unfair and I'm glad to see he's stepped out of that silly debate. Their is more than sufficient evidence, some of which is anecdotal, to justify further investigation by those who are interested and willing to do so.

I've enough MHRB to supply myself with effective skin treatment for decades yet I still find PB very interesting. Phalaris Brachystachys and Canariensis (a cultivar of brachystachys, I believe) are interesting not just because of their (debated) potency.

The very short time to maturity may make this plant an excellent candidate for breeding even more potent or pure strains.

The annual nature of the plant allows for multiple harvests and growth for seed.

As a grass, the home cultivator isn't faced with the task of seriously injuring his plants as might be the case with plants like Mimosa hostilis, Acacia Obtusifolia or Desmanthus species.

For groups of individuals of like mind interested in psychedelic spiritual ceremonies, PB may be able to eliminate much of the expense of aquiring sacrements as well as , and more importantly, helping to eliminate the paper trail and number of individuals privy to the groups activities.

Phalaris Brachystachys is also a great "lab" for learning about inheritence and basic testing for alkaloids.

I think it's important that we understand that we are a diverse group and as such our interests are also diverse. Some of us are primarily interested in a plant or a plant material purely as a means to an end and that's fine. Others aren't so focused on the end result (although it surely is still important) but rather enjoy the process and novelty of the process to reach that end.

Finally, in the spirit of harm reduction, these plants are underexplored, of unknown potency and potentially toxic. For the less motivated and experienced, Phalaris Brachystachys shouldn't be considered over mimosa as a route to DMT. No phalaris species should be considered as a safe route to ayahuasca without extraction or analysis.

Now, on to the mysteries of the sacred grass....

Gramine and other possibly toxic alkaloids easily migrate to the acqueous layer. Using phalaris as an ayahuasca analogue is not safe, you would be a guinea pig risking your health. There's no long history of phalaris oral use that we really know of, no study of potential toxicity of some of these alkaloids in humans, and phalaris varies a lot in alkaloid content. Just because a small number of people have done it without apparent damage does not mean that it is safe, it might be they are doing yet-unseen damage to themselves, or that they were lucky. Please do NOT ingest a crude phalaris brew.

1) grind phyllodes/small twigs in a coffee grinder or with mortar and pestle as fine as possible
2) soak overnight in mixture of ethanol/vodka/methylated spirits plus white vinegar and water
3) heat/boil liquid & plant material for approx 45 minutes..keep liquid..add fresh liquid and repeat X 2 (45 min boiling)
4) combine liquids and reduce volume by heating..at various stages here is when as much filtering as possible should be done..e.g. coffee filters (can be slow); reduce volume of liquid as much as possible, i.e until slightly thick..4B) defat x1 with NP solvent - optional
5) very slowly and carefully add casutic soda or pure ammonium until pH between 11-12.5
6) add equal amount of non polar solvent, and separate (optional wash with salty H20+NaOH)..evaporate slow
..all technical issues with emulsions etc are covered in nexus threads..

DeKorne says he discovered that you could make a smokable extract [from Phalaris arundinacea var. Turkey Red]by accident, after leaving an extract intended for ayahuesque use out where the alcohol evaporated, leaving "a gummy tar" which he "on a sudden whim" decided to smoke. "I took one inhalation of this essence and found my mind immediately blasted into a cerebral hurricane of rapidly pulsing white light. Fortunately, I already knew what a DMT flash is like, so I was not totally taken by surprise."

His idea of extraction is this:
Pulverize the grass clippings
Add water, "enough... to make a pourable soup"
Acidify to pH 5 or so
(Optional) Simmer the acidified soup in a slow cooker overnight, not allowing the liquid to evaporate. ("It may take two or three such operations to get all of the alkaloids into solution" )
Strain the plant matter through cheesecloth, then through a paper coffee filter
Add 10-15% of the mass of the solution in a "defatting solvent" such as methylene chloride, ether, chloroform, or naptha. [Be extremely careful about the use of naptha]
Shake vigorously
The crap will go into the solvent, leaving the good stuff in the water.
Separate the water from the solvent.
Add a base to the aqueous solution in small increments until the pH gets to about 9 or 10. This converts the alkaloids into their free base.
Extract with 10% of the mass of the solution of an organic solvent four times, at one 24-hour and then three weekly intervals. The solvent layer will take on a darker tint, usually yellowish or reddish-brown. It will take almost a month to extract all of the alkaloids, and the solution should be shaken at least twice a day between extractions.
Evaporate the solvent off from the combined extract fractions. You now have the alkaloids.
He was smoking 50 mg of this goo at a shot.

As a footnote, he tried similar stuff with Arundo donax and got some really nasty reactions from whatever other crud was in the plant. I'm gonna cross this one off of my list.