From my interest in ayahuasca lead me to acquiring some hostility. I've done a few extracts and feel that I understand the chemistry behind STB and A/B enough to consider an ayahuasca brew. From my knowledge of DMT solubility that came from the understanding of an A/B extract it raised a question.

The thing I was wondering is what ingredient in the brew process lowers the pH of the water allowing the DMT to be soluble in water? I know that MHRB is slightly acidic itself is chacruna or chaliponga also lower the pH of the brew?

Is the pH important?- it seems that brews are more dictated by the cook times?

Thanks for any guidance.

The DMT in barks is in a salt form not freebase so it is already soluble in water.

you can add a small amount of distilled vinegar if you want but it makes it taste, I would rather do an extra boil than use acid.

Hmm that's interesting. I suppose I don't know the chemistry behind an A/B as well as I thought I did then. What purpose does adding acid to water in the first step in an A/B extract serve if it is already soluble in water?

I didn't want to add anything to the brew that isn't normal practice just was something I was curious about. Thanks 3rdI!

Remember plants are acidic, they have different acids in them (can be for example tannic acid, oxalic acid, etc). This is what lowers the pH when doing a plant brew and this is what makes the alkaloids water soluble.

Purpose of adding more acid is to further breakdown the cells and help making yields even better (or in some cases to make sure the brew has acidic pH because sometimes people`s tap water may be unusually high pH and could lower yields). Other ways to breakdown cells are: freeze and thaw cycles, pressure cooking, sonicating.

If I am going to drink the brew, personally I never add extra acid, it makes it taste worse. I rather just break down the plant matter as much as possible, do the boils or pressure cooks 3x, and then at the end I can save the plant matter and can try soaking it in acid for a few days and doing one last boil/pressure cook and try to extract alkaloids from that (or put it together with the next round of plant material for an extraction)

Exactly - adding extra acid means that you will have to gulp it in the end and it'd be quite concentrated and disgusting. As these brews are fairly disgusting on their own, it is wise not to do something that will worsen the taste. The aim here is of you yo be able to drink it and keep it in your guts for a fair amount of time!

Glorious! Thank you for clearing that up for me endlessness.

Yea I've always heard about how foul tasting the brew is so I won't divert from the normal and add anything to worsen that.

It will probably be some time before I have the time to invest in a brew but I like to research heavily beforehand anyways.

this is going to sound a bit insane but it works.

if all you want to do is lower the ph prior to drinking it, drop some alkiseltzer in the brew.

yes it makes the whole experience seem that bit more strange now that it is bubbling and your suppose to drink it like that, but it lowers the ph and actually delays the onset, allowing the brew to get into your gut, thus making you less likely to purge and when it does kick in, your going to be feeling it longer.

only need one of those pills at most, maybe half, but try it some time, it works rather well and it doesnt significantly mess with the taste to where it is unpalatable.

good luck.

I usually add some lemon juice to my brews. To me, the taste is absolutely horrendous either way, can't really tell the difference.

However one must keep in mind this boils down (lol ) in good part to personal preference. To some people I know, mushrooms are delicious and ayahuasca doesn't taste so bad.

Adding a pinch of citric acid to each wash results in a smooth brew that wouldn't taste too bad it you didn't get the memory shudders every time you even smell a brew let alone taste it

I have read recipes that suggest adding a couple of sliced kiwis to your brew, then removing them when you filter all the plant matter out. Kiwis contain a relatively large amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and I don't imagine they could possibly worsen the taste of the brew. If not kiwis, I would say a pinch of citric acid would be sufficient too.