Again - if it's a glass rose or something similar you're talking about, then smoking out of a hollowed out apple core would be a huge step up.

The traditional vapor genie is very effective. The glass version is the absolute last word in spice vaporization. Believe it. It's exactly what you are looking for.

Agreed on the GVG. Before I got mine, I was also a little scared by the price. I tried many, many things, from the light bulb to bong to machine-like home-made vaporizer. But I finally buckled down and bought it... and it was the best decision I've made in a long time. Sessions with a friend went from "Wow, I almost got to the swirling colors this evening!" to "Hmm... maybe less next time."

And it sounds like your buddies are partaking of your spice as well as you. See if they'll pitch in for the GVG; if you're the spice-extractor, then they will benefit from you having the GVG almost as much as you will. That could soften the cost a bit.

If even those plans die, build the Machine (see wiki).

And ethanol is just drinking alcohol, mate, although it need be a very high percentage to be an effective solvent.

i moved to another thread

I seem to have a similar problem. I might buy a vaporgenie as now i have 3 - 4 hits on my machine, and even when other people are there they can see large amounts of smoke going through the pipe but i never get to the point where i drop the pipe or anything like that. Never got to that point. I get insane closed eye visuals which are totally what i imagine breaking through to be where its like im flying through a cosmic space. but i still know whats going on?

Thing is, i thought for ages i must be smoking it wrong but the smoke(vapour) tastes so smooth that i honestly think i can't be burning it as i've also tried it from a pipe (urgh).

I WISH SO MUCH that i could just smoke one hit, drop the pipe and go traveling. But it seems i just can't