I know, i know, this has been done and tried a thousand times, with lots of failure and lots of mediocre at best results. But let's take a fresh look at it and at least give it a solid try, combining many different bits of knowledge and experiences and see what we can come up with. Tea can be great, and reductions can offer portability, convenience, and discretion.
We are going to assume that we have good seeds, the right seeds, unwashed, etc. We know that filtration of all kinds is very important. Warm filter, cold filter, ice filter, wax filtering, micron filtering, etc. But, i have a method that may reduce the need for so much filtering. No chemicals, no synthesis.
I have done all of this but i have yet to put it all together, like this:
Step 1: Make a strong seed tea. Try using tea to wash a 2nd batch of fresh seeds. This may not technically double the strength but it could have an impact. A quick, aggressive shake, with a little lemon juice, not too much. Filter and reduce the tea to a maple syrup consistency . *Given step 2 though, which will use Everclear, i wonder how important it is to do multiple filtrations. Here's why:
Step 2: Put tea syrup into a glass jar and fill with equal amount Everclear (192 proof). Shake the jar and place in fridge for (a week?). The Everclear will thoroughly clean and crash a LOT of sediment to the bottom leaving a clean dark red alcohol on the top half. You can filter your tea 10 times and you will be amazed at how much silt the ethanol crashes down. Siphon this liquid into another jar, add some more everclear to the remaining silt for a 2nd, smaller pull. The alcohol does such a good job of cleaning things up that a 2nd soak may be irrelevant. It does such a good job that it may eliminate the need for such immaculate filtering of the original tea. Evaporate the deep red alcohol until you have a firm putty. But we are not done.
We of course don't use alcohol on the seeds because it's so strong it could quickly strip the seeds themselves and soak liquid back in to them. It could be overkill and nasty.
Step 3: This water tea reduced, alcohol extracted and dried putty may be very "clean", but can it be washed one more time by doing a classic water cook by dissolving the putty in warm water, possibly simmering, filtering, and reduce to a final putty? Water to extract, alcohol to crash, water to clean to cooked opium. The water extracts the most without stripping too much. If the alcohol crashes and cleans so well, why overly clean the tea? Does it matter to the alcohol?
The alcohol gets all of the m and c out of the syrup, right? It extracts all of it, so much so that it nearly bleaches the silt.
The resulting solid must be rich in alkaloids and pretty darn clean. But, it might be a bit harsh, rough? Instead of finishing with ethanol, How about a 3rd and final water soak/filter a la "cooked opium"?
Thoughts?
We are going to assume that we have good seeds, the right seeds, unwashed, etc. We know that filtration of all kinds is very important. Warm filter, cold filter, ice filter, wax filtering, micron filtering, etc. But, i have a method that may reduce the need for so much filtering. No chemicals, no synthesis.
I have done all of this but i have yet to put it all together, like this:
Step 1: Make a strong seed tea. Try using tea to wash a 2nd batch of fresh seeds. This may not technically double the strength but it could have an impact. A quick, aggressive shake, with a little lemon juice, not too much. Filter and reduce the tea to a maple syrup consistency . *Given step 2 though, which will use Everclear, i wonder how important it is to do multiple filtrations. Here's why:
Step 2: Put tea syrup into a glass jar and fill with equal amount Everclear (192 proof). Shake the jar and place in fridge for (a week?). The Everclear will thoroughly clean and crash a LOT of sediment to the bottom leaving a clean dark red alcohol on the top half. You can filter your tea 10 times and you will be amazed at how much silt the ethanol crashes down. Siphon this liquid into another jar, add some more everclear to the remaining silt for a 2nd, smaller pull. The alcohol does such a good job of cleaning things up that a 2nd soak may be irrelevant. It does such a good job that it may eliminate the need for such immaculate filtering of the original tea. Evaporate the deep red alcohol until you have a firm putty. But we are not done.
We of course don't use alcohol on the seeds because it's so strong it could quickly strip the seeds themselves and soak liquid back in to them. It could be overkill and nasty.
Step 3: This water tea reduced, alcohol extracted and dried putty may be very "clean", but can it be washed one more time by doing a classic water cook by dissolving the putty in warm water, possibly simmering, filtering, and reduce to a final putty? Water to extract, alcohol to crash, water to clean to cooked opium. The water extracts the most without stripping too much. If the alcohol crashes and cleans so well, why overly clean the tea? Does it matter to the alcohol?
The alcohol gets all of the m and c out of the syrup, right? It extracts all of it, so much so that it nearly bleaches the silt.
The resulting solid must be rich in alkaloids and pretty darn clean. But, it might be a bit harsh, rough? Instead of finishing with ethanol, How about a 3rd and final water soak/filter a la "cooked opium"?
Thoughts?