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Preparing San Pedro

S

StanleyJobson

Ex-Bluelighter
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Jun 27, 2014
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I recently bought a foot of San Pedro, and received it last night. Since I don't have a blender, I used this method that I found online.

I cut off the spines and waxy skin, and the remaining cactus weighed 705 grams. I cut out the core, and then chopped up the cactus in inch long pieces, and then cut those into smaller pieces. I then threw it into some lightly boiling water (medium heat) and cooked it down until there was only a small amount of liquid.

I then strained it, and boiled the cactus chunks again in some fresh water. All together it took about four hours.

I got really anxious to try it last night, so I drank about thirty percent, which I'm guessing was around 200 grams. Nothing happened.

I drank the rest of it, what I can only assume is 500 grams, enough to trip balls, two and ahalfhours ago. I am not really feeling anything, and am wondering if anyone has any idea what might be going on. Thanks!
 
Don't boil simmer (low heat). Simmer for 4-5 hours and reduce to a goop then strain whatever chunky plant matter is left. Drink the strained liquid/goop. No need to reboil.

What did you do with the liquid you strained the first time? That is where the mescal is if their is any.
 
I put it in a pot and then combined it with the juice from the second boil. What I thought was interesting was that there was no foam or anything in my boil, just straight up bitter cactus juice. I ordered some more San Pedro, so I'll have to try it a different way. Would the boil simmer have destroyed the mescaline? That's really the only thing I can think of happening. Sucks, was looking forward to tripping.
 
Use a coffee plunger to squeeze every last drop of juice out of the solids. Too high a heat can destroy the mescal. Really depends on the quality of the pedro. If you can access dried ground pedro say a couple hundred grams you should be gold. No foam? Weird when I make cactus tea it's always got a bit of a scum layer, it's the surfactants in the plant material that cause this. Cacti really like to preserve their fluids.
 
Yeah I was confused about the lack of foam. About the blender, I don't see how that would help so much. Either way, I'm making a tea, but somehow this didn't work. Still not quite sure what went wrong.
 
Probably need to dose a lot, lot higher. Mescaline is a very gentle drug compared to mushrooms or LSD.
 
Ismene said:
Probably need to dose a lot, lot higher.
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This, also there might not have been a lot of mescaline in your cactus. That thread above has a lot of good info too. Boiling will not destroy the mesc, but it is not necessary. I would also do more simmers/strains, I usually need 4-5 to deplete the alkaloids in a foot of cactus. I would recommend two feet next time, if you have the chance, or try and get some bridgesii.
 
The foot of cactus I got was a pretty monstrous chunk. It weighed out to over 700 grams, and I ended up drinking yesterday what should've been 500 mg, which is on the top end of what's considered a strong dose. I'll try it again next week with more simmers and strains, and drink it all at once. The only thing I felt when I took it yesterday was maybe a little bit of confusion after an hour that lasted about 1.5 hours, but it basically just amounted to drinking some nasty tasting water. What I got out of the other thread that was linked was that maybe my tap water is too high on the PH scale, and that could have prevented the mescaline from coming out or something? I dunno, but maybe when I try it again I'll use distilled water.
 
StanleyJobson said:
The foot of cactus I got was a pretty monstrous chunk. It weighed out to over 700 grams, and I ended up drinking yesterday what should've been 500 mg, which is on the top end of what's considered a strong dose. I'll try it again next week with more simmers and strains, and drink it all at once. The only thing I felt when I took it yesterday was maybe a little bit of confusion after an hour that lasted about 1.5 hours, but it basically just amounted to drinking some nasty tasting water. What I got out of the other thread that was linked was that maybe my tap water is too high on the PH scale, and that could have prevented the mescaline from coming out or something? I dunno, but maybe when I try it again I'll use distilled water.
Click to expand...

The most common cultivar of San Pedro usually runs about 0.2-0.5% mescaline dry weight. Since you had 700 g of wet cactus, that corresponds to about 35 g dry weight, as the cactus is about 95% water. So, 35 g dry San Pedro could be anywhere from 70-175 mg mescaline, not much more than a threshold dose at best. Bridgesii runs about 1-2% mescaline by dry weight, so 35 g would be from 350-700 mg=D.
 
Thanks tryp, that would explain it. I just ordered a second foot of SP, so that should hopefully be enough to get an experience. I haven't done psychedelics in a decade (have only done shrooms), and plan on doing shrooms in a week, then maybe the SP before I leave for my ayahuasca retreat. Good times ahead!
 
I respect you for drinking all that cactus snot for nothing and still being prepared to drink another load of it. You are a true psychedelic warrior.
 
Thanks, Ismene. I have another question for you guys. Would you all recommend me drinking the two feet of cactus and then taking a bus out to nature, where I can hang out in a foresty area with a beach and sun (this is what I would do if I was eating shrooms), or stay at home where I have my couch and bed, and can control some things a bit better? Thanks!
 
StanleyJobson said:
Thanks, Ismene. I have another question for you guys. Would you all recommend me drinking the two feet of cactus and then taking a bus out to nature, where I can hang out in a foresty area with a beach and sun (this is what I would do if I was eating shrooms), or stay at home where I have my couch and bed, and can control some things a bit better? Thanks!
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No, take the bus to the woods then drink the cactus snot...you don't want to spew on all those nice people on the bus...do you?
 
Well I'd rather not draw attention to myself by spewing anywhere, much less on those nice bus people, which is why I'm going through the tortuous process of removing the waxy skin.
 
StanleyJobson said:
Well I'd rather not draw attention to myself by spewing anywhere, much less on those nice bus people, which is why I'm going through the tortuous process of removing the waxy skin.
Click to expand...

Did this today...my hands still hurt from using a knife for three hours.
 
The way I did it yesterday was much more manageable. I cut a straight chunk off on the ridge of the cactus where the spines are, and then made a cut in the valley, down to the core. That left pieces of skin around .33" wide that were much easier to cut/peel off. My hands aren't even sore!

So I suppose I'll go through with my plan of drinking the tea and then taking the bus out to nature. If that starts to suck, I can always just take the bus home. I'm hoping tryp2fun is correct about the mescaline amounts in the types of cactus, because the first foot of SP this time weighed out to 750 g. Anywho, looking forward to trying it out, probably some time early next week
 
It takes 2-3 hours to comeup tho Stanley so take your time going on the bus.
 
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