heres the deal:

a friend has aquired very low potency trichocereus peruvianus. it produces a light awakeness at 50g dried material. its only the outer skin. my guess would be that one would have to eat almost my whole 400g to get the effects one wants. so my question would be if there is a way of just making a very crude extract. it may still be 30g of crap one will need to eat in the end. but at least it will not be 400g of crap.

does anybody have an idea how to go about this? is there a way of preparing some kind of drink from this? how do i brew it?

if your looking to extract the mescaline chemical there are some very good teks on mycotopia

nope.. i don't really wanna extract with this poorly active cactus. it would be a waste of time. i am looking for a way to "compress" it into a brew or something that can be taken in in one or two gulps. it doesnt matter if its really dirty.

Ethanol or methanol extractions reportedly work great if one wants to concentrate the 400g in a tablespoon or so. Just keep washing with the alcohol till the cactus powder starts turning whiteysh/yellowish. Evap to get sticky goo.

ha thanx, that answers my question also.

thanks! you're tha man!

Yup, simple alcohol extraction works great. There will be some stomach discomfort at one end or the other, but it is well worth it.

I may have a little more trouble getting the two above. Will 90%-92% isopropyl work?
then a bake in the oven on 200 to remove the water left behind?

It may work, possibly give it a try with a small quantity (5-10g of cactus). There are 2 concerns here:

1) the tendency of the cactus to turn into a slimy goo when mixed in water. Cactus tissue after all is pretty good at absorbing water, right? But the goo is a pain in the ass to work with, it won't filter. Alcohols will not turn the powder into goo, they will keep it in a nice easy-to-work powdery form

Now, there is the chance that the small percentage of water in the isopropyl will fuck things up. so, just give it a try with a small amount.

2) isopropyl alcohol may not be as good dissolving the mescaline salts. Methanol and ethanol certainly work, since they are slightly more water soluble than, say "naphtha" soluble (i.e. if methanol and ethanol molecules were given the choice, where do you like to live, in the water or in the naphtha they would vote; ~60 would say we like water, 40% we love naphtha). So they can dissolve the water-loving salts.

Isopropyl alcohol molecules would vote for naphtha over water. That means they may not be as good for dissolving the mescaline salts.

BUT, if the isopropyl has some water, like in your scenario, there will be no such problem. As long as cactus does not turn into a goo.

Thanx again, i will try a little first when i have my cactus.

Could i do a good naptha wash and get it down to just salts and a little plant material?
evape to a powder or goo?

Why don't you try this method swim found over at mycotopia.Swim has never tried it but if he had some cactus this is the method for a crude extract he would try.

Irishlions Cactus Tea Method

thanx for the info. I want to get it in gel tabs to avoid taste. I was hoping that mesc was not soluble in naptha so i could get it down to a small amount. But i'm not sure if it will work so great, if its not able to grab lots of oils and fats without a hundred washes.

i have just chopped down some of my own pachanoi clones which have been growing for over 10 years. i grew em like this: watered over the summer, dry over the winter. the babies i have just cut off(all in one i have cut 25cm) have been dry for a whole year now. receiving no water at all. i cut off the tops to propagate new ones. i am now drying the chips in the oven at 50C.. i wanna try eating the chips as they are to check out the disgusting taste

i put a fresh very green piece from under the waxy skin on my tongue to check the flavor. VERY BITTER! and the piece was REALLY small! i hope this will be good!

i'll report back!