...not shredded?

Work for what? I imagine it would work better for brewing than extracting. You will spend a whole lot of time filtering in between boils. When I'm working with powder I use a french press for the initial strains and then after I reduce it I will let it sit awhile and let all the excess powder you didn't filter fall to the bottom. Decant the liquid off the top and you are good.

Why wouldn't it work?

I don't know. The traditional Amazonian way the caapi is supposed to be shredded. I was just thinking that it's possible you can "fry" the MAOI molecule because it's powdered and not whole plant material.

afaik, there is negligible degradation (if any) of β-carbolines from grinding.
but the increase in surface area (and to a lesser extent, the physically lysed cells) make it easier to pull the actives out of the vine.
be it extraction or brew.

Hello everyone, I'm a new member but have looked at the site for a few months now. I ordered b caapi powder and some chali for my first ayahuasca experience, I started 2 days ago now brewing(approx 75g b caapi and 3-4g chali). I threw the b caapi powder and chali together in a crock pot and let it brew over night.I also tried a cold water extraction just to see how it would compare. When I brew it, it's really dark and all the powder is in the water, I ended up taking that liquid and running it through the cold extract to get all the powder out, but noticed that it's like a cloudy grey color compared to just doing the cold water extraction of the b caapi which is more of a light brown. Is there something wrong with the brew? Is running the brew through the cold water extraction going to make anything stay in the cotton I used? Sorry if this is redundant

Ps. I also tried straining the brew through a cheesecloth and t shirt before putting through the cold water extraction method but to no avail. My purpose of running it through was just to get out the powder and grittyNess.

It's good to filter out the particles.
I don't think there's anything wrong with your brew.
The cold water one may not be as potent from the sounds of it.
75/4 sounds like the perfect dose so you're on the right track there.
You can buy big cotton tea bags and just stuff it all in there and brew next time.
It's good to let the brew sit in the fridge and let the particles drop to the bottom so you can pour off the liquid, save the liquid, and discard the decanted plant material.

It may seem tricky at first but after a few times this will be second nature.

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