San Pedro Options..oh What To Do!

It was a rather good growing season for my cacti and what were once three cacti are now five healthy and actively growing cacti.
I have about 40"x2" of cactus already harvested and about another 36"+ ready for harvest if I desire.

I think what I have now will be more than sufficient, but ya never know.
Problem is I have made and consumed the Pedro Potion twice before and it is VILE tasting and I do not know if I will actually be able to get it down again. It was a challenge the first time, near impossible the second and I get the shudders just recalling it.

So I'm thinking of doing the slow cook in water using a crock pot and then let that evaporate down to goo and mix in corn starch to get it to a consistency that is manageable and then either just swallowing the "pellets" or load it into some gelcaps for future use.

The other quandary is how much do I want to make/take?

The first time I made the Potion it was one helluva ride, over 18 hours in duration, easily 12 hours "peaking". That was using about 36"x2" cacti which is the mother of half the cacti I have now.
Great experience, but not sure I'm keen on a long haul journey at this time. Maybe if there is a window of opportunity.
The second time was more reasonable 12 hours or so.
It's been a couple years since taking any journeys, and a healthy dose of internal reality investigation/reorganization may be in order, so I may go for the big journey.


Not interested in doing the whole alcohol extraction.
So any suggestions or experiences in making a more palatable potion from Pedro.

 

Besides a Tea and Food Grade Extraction, the only other method of consumption I've done is making San Pedro "Chips".

This method is cutting the dark green alkaloid rich layer out from the rest of the San Pedro and drying it. The cutting takes a couple hours and the drying takes a few days, so it takes some patience. I found chips easier to consume than tea, however it seemed to produce more pronounced body load during the trip. Perhaps we could chalk that up to variability in trips, but I have read people say that making a tea breaks down the cell walls of the plant material which leads to less digestion issues.

 

How did they taste?
I will admit that tea is my preferred method if for no other reason than it requires the least amount of prep.
I core it, and if feeling ambitious will peel the waxy cuticle off, but don't bother with the spines. Then I chop it up and freeze it to break down the cell walls, then put the frozen mush into the pot to slowly simmer.
As it simmers I work it over with a potato masher to try to extract as much out of it as possible.

I did rush a little with my first preps, so probably got a lot more plant matter than desired in the final potion.
gonna try for a clear syrup kind of consistency this time around.

 

Wasn't bad at all, there was maybe a faint, slightly bitter plant matter taste when I initially tried it but I had a Gatorade on me and it practically had no taste when I chased it with that.

 

since all the good stuff is right under the skin and it's hard to get the skin off - if you cut into it (take spines out) a quarter inch then puree the skin will pass - add a bag of frozen strawberries and sugar and mescalito smoothy

 

I've had good luck with teas, I kept them down no problem. It was eating fresh cacti that was the most difficult, always made me retch. I had somewhere around 20 to 30 hybrids. Cooking down a tea to the muck left is also a good method. They remaining residue can be put into capsules or just rolled into balls and swallowed. Not as attractive as some crystals but a water extract doesn't have issues with what solvent is used.

There are a number of alkaloids present and the method to ingest does play a role in the experience.

 

Just yesterday I did a half a cup of sludge that I got from harvesting two ft of 3-5 inches of pedro and a foot of bridgessii. I intended this to be for my wife and I both but she is back home dealing with some family issues so I did it all myself. It was an earth shattering experience but left me with a bad aftertaste, (Maybe pun intended) as this was one of the more harsh and slimy brews I have ever done and it looked like used motor oil.

My preferred method is to cut it into thin slices, dice those up as fine as you want. Put them in a big stew pot and boil on high for like 90 minutes. Mash with a potato masher or flat bottomed cup or something. Strain and put that wash into a big pot. Do this 3-4 times until the flesh is tasteless. As long as it is bitter there is still good stuff left in there. Save all of those washes into the big pot.

When you are done start boiling it down. You can roast it on high until there is like 1 inch of water left in the pot. Then slow it down and KEEP A GOOD EYE ON IT! Once it gets thick it can burn and be ruined very easily. I usually boil it down into a slimy sludge that looks like used motor oil but I think motor oil would probably taste better. I like to end up with half to 3/4 of a cup to make it easier to take down. Also as you do the final few inches of reduction to the brew, put the pot half on and half off the burner. The part that is not on the burner will have a layer of slime on top of it. Spoon this off as it is plant fats and tannins that add to your stomach discomfort in the final product.

I rarely get sick on Tea, although I purged hard on the double dose I just did, but san pedro has NEVER made me purge like that. The Bridgessii may be more potent but I don't care for the more rough effect it adds to the pedro.

I used to be a member here but had not been here in like years. Doing this cactus journey made me crave some interaction about it all, so I came on back in.

Peace and be safe....