hello nexians fellows!
what in your opinion is the best way to deal with cappi?

this are the ways swim tought about:
1. maybe the best way of all - THE SOXHLET EXTRACTOR - which by ron69 can ran whole week with no harm on the alkaloids, also he said that 48 hours of extraction are significantly better then 24 hours.
pros and cons:

* didnt need to look out and can do other stuff while the soxhlet extract the goodies

* can use alchol insteed of water that probebly will pull more from the plant, that can or extract with good old chimicals to yield a clean alkaloids or can add water and evap the alchol for drinking.

* soxhlet are pricy and best work with magnetic stirrer for not carmalize the goodies (just an opinion, swim didnt have that fancy equipment and never try this), also 48 hours of hotplate even without a stirrer take LOTS of electicity, somthing that importent to include here in terms of cost and safty (check out safty of weed growers in terms of electricity)

* soxhlet also have very limited ammount that can put inside even in the biggest ones and not suitable for group coocking, only for individuals

2. THE HERBAL PERCOLATOR - which has a wiki on it and well known in this lovely forum,
pros and cons:

* many people report that it will also significally improve the extraction of alkaloids into the water.

* probebly the only method tha can use cold water to extract...dont know if its good or not, just mention the uniqness of it

* have a really big downside which is the huge amount of water that need and the reduction of this water to a manageable size that take lot of time and energy.

* easy to build and really chip to make.

3. regulary and treditionally cooking 3x3 or so
pros and cons:

* used without fail for lots of good years by the shamans of the amazon,

* easy to manage and work with and probebly the best in terms of accesible for most of the people.

ok so far this is the ways swim can think of,
if you have anything to add please share your expirience and shed your light on it.

I'm a big fan of the traditional, to be honest. Then again I haven't tried anything else other than slow alcohol extraction. I use whole dried caapi because I like to hammer it and work with it as much as possible before cooking. I get it to a very shred and make enough for at least a few journeys at a time, freezing some.

In the freezer two days before the cook. Sometimes the night before the cook I get it soaking with acidified water overnight (not sure if this really effects yield, just seems like a good way to start to me). 3x3 boils, and I usually do one last 20 minute "rinse" with just enough hot water to cover too. I don't really have a way of measuring potency other than the good old fashioned way, but it seems to be quite efficient