blue.magic wrote:You and Eaglepath seem to get interestingly pure product from the oldie goldie tek using water-based extraction, nonpolar solvent and backsalting.
I never had success with that, always getting terrible emulsions and the product resembled red gum or orangey goop.
I shifted to alcoholic extractions followed by A/B, and this still yield tan sulfates, nothing even close to what you get with a simple STB tek. I would really love to know what your secret technique is
I think regardless of how you extract the alkaloids, the 'secret' to good crystals is salting with sulfuric acid and using DG's instructions on this forum for simple titration. This will give you very clean results. Brown or tan mescaline is usually a sign of over acidifying at the salting stage. Your salting water needs to be at PH 6-7.
My STB method which is no secret....
Fresh Whole blended cactus
20% by weight of lye
Blend vigorously until its watery and fully slaked (I use a paint mixer on a drill). Leave it till the foam subsides (Sometimes as little as 3 hours)
7% by volume of Xylene
Blend on high again for 2 or 3 minutes
Heat the extraction to 80deg C
Pull solvent and salt once to PH 7 (following DG's instruction)
Return solvent to cactus mix and repeat twice more.
Some notes....
Add extra water to help your blender along, this is easier in winter when the plants are holding water naturally. Your initial blended cactus should be quite soupy, not dry. More water is better IMO
The excess base really helps to speed things along, I know its excessive but it works!
You need to heat the extraction to avoid emulsions.Use a good PH meter for salting
You could do this in a day if you have access to heat everything, its very fast and not labor intensive. No need to stand over a pot boiling and filtering all day, let the base do the work for you!