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Mega Merged: Ultimate poppy pod/seed tea thread (getting the most out of your pods)

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BodhiSvaha33

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Sep 4, 2007
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15g-20g is exactly what I use as well. I plug it, though, I don't drink it. (Why doesn't everybody plug it? There's no downside that I can see, and you lose most of the nasty side effects.)

Also, I grind up the whole shebang (pods, stems, seeds) in a coffee grinder as soon as the package comes and store the powder in plastic sandwich bags in the fridge. I don't understand why people say to throw the seeds or stems away. Can't hurt to leave them in, right? And it's a lot easier to explain bags of powdered plant material (Chinese medicine!) than a box full of dried poppies, if it should come to that.
 
BodhiSvaha33 said:
15g-20g is exactly what I use as well. I plug it, though, I don't drink it. (Why doesn't everybody plug it? There's no downside that I can see, and you lose most of the nasty side effects.)

Are you serious? How much water do you mix in with your pods? I usually use two cups of water (for about 1 1/2 cups worth of grinds) and I can't imagine putting that up there.

But by god, I'm willing to try...it's getting to the point where I have to drink the shit over the sink because I'll throw up a little with every other gulp :(
 
I've been just soaking my grounds in 100% cranberry juice.

Tastes a LOT nicer than a water soak.
 
CloudyHazeD said:
I've been just soaking my grounds in 100% cranberry juice.

Tastes a LOT nicer than a water soak.

By 100% you mean the straight, no sugar added stuff?
 
eon_blue said:
Are you serious? How much water do you mix in with your pods? I usually use two cups of water (for about 1 1/2 cups worth of grinds) and I can't imagine putting that up there.

But by god, I'm willing to try...it's getting to the point where I have to drink the shit over the sink because I'll throw up a little with every other gulp :(

Wow... 1.5 cups of grinds? What's that in grams? 15g is about two standard tea bags' worth, definitely less than a cup.

Actually though, 2 cups of water isn't much to put "up there". Enema bags hold a lot more than that, and your colon certainly can. I just use a syringe 5 times or so (~100mL of liquid), but with more liquid I'd probably get an enema bag like they sell in any drugstore.
 
eon_blue said:
By 100% you mean the straight, no sugar added stuff?

Yep, thats the stuff.

Grapefruit juice is good also. Any 100% juice of pretty much any kind will help with the taste.
 
CloudyHazeD said:
Pod Potency.

Is there ANY real data on this?

I'm not talking qualitative internet chatter, here.

Real hard numbers are what I'd like to see.

As I sit here slurping down some juiced pods I start to ponder a bit; ya know, all the pods I have ever consumed were all about the same potency(by weight).

I hear people(or rather read) about people getting 'super' potent pods, and to watch out for a potent batch and such. Then you got people on the other end of the spectrum, weak pods.

Then you got me. I weigh my doses. Sure, slight variations are noticed, but couldn't be by more that +/- 20mg of mixed actives. All seems the same to me.

15 - 20 grams is my usual cup of tea; this could be 3 mammoth pods, or 10 little ones, or any other mix of inbetween.

What is everyones opinion on the potency of pods? Or better yet, who can provide some tangible references?


I think the key here is that you grind your pods and measure by weight, esentially evening out the pod powder, if you will. Those that measure by number/size of pods generally experience more variance. That, and switching suppliers can make a big difference.
 
So on a related note to the OP's question, assuming that most varieties of pods are pretty much the same potency by weight, what's the best deal? By that I mean, what variety of poppies generally gives you the most grams for your buck? XL, L, M, S?

I notice that some of the prices are quite distorted, which means that some people must actually be buying pods as decoration (go figure!). Any particular strains that might be sought after by decorators and therefore avoided by us?

Erowid sez 1g-2g weight for an average deseeded "small" pod and 4g+ for the giant ones. However, the giant always cost well over double the amount of the small (per pod). So is it best to shoot for the smallest pods? Answers appreciated, since I need to reorder...
 
I think the smaller ones are a lot cheaper, but larger ones overall have more potency. I cannot give you a definitive answer......
 
For small ones, I have no scale so what do you think (offhand) would be a good amount of pods to blend?
 
anyone have any website tutorial type things on how to make pod tea?
 
Come on now.

Grind pods with blender or coffee grinder (after removal of seeds/knuckle&stem/crown)

Weigh out a dose (12 grams is good start for no tolerance)

Get a glass jar. Pour ground pod into it. Add lemon juice and hot(not boiling) water.

Shake and let soak for 20 minutes.

Strain the grounds out with a cloth/piece of shirt/clean rag/sock. Squeeze it good to get all the liquid.

Drink.

Learn how to UTFSE :D
 
I want to say I don't agree with the lemon juice aspect, in numerous trials I have found that lemon juice either does not increase or actually reduces potency.

Also I have discovered lately that a 20 minute hot water soak doesn't get nearly all of the actives. What I have started doing is a LONG cold water soak on the "spent" pods and then using that water the next time I brew tea (with fresh ones). This greatly aids potency of the subsequent brew.
 
I am inclined to agree, but I doubt it really decreases solubility and thus potency. Lemon juice, that is.

As, citrates, base, and sulphate form of morphine all seem to have a similar solubility in water.

Cant speak for the other alkaloids, so I suppose that could effect perceived potency.

I pretty much add lemon juice just to further improve taste.......

The little outline I gave above was pretty generic and I assumed OK for the purposes of the kid whom asked.

Lately, I've been using a long/cold soak method, although still with lemon juice, and instead of water, 100% cranberry juice.

Works great and tastes bearable(up to around 50grams pod powder anyway)
 
A lot of this has been covered elsewhere but I wanted to make a single thread revolving around the noble aim of getting as high as possible for your poppy $$, share my experiences, and solicit others' ideas.

Seeds or Pods?
My experience: either works, subjective effect is indistinguishable, however the potency of seeds is simply too variable. I stick with pods.

What Kind?
As long as it's Papaver somniferum, it doesn't seem to matter much. Larger pods are more expensive gram-for-gram than small ones (probably because they are more sought after by flower arrangers), so I buy small pods, strain irrelevant.

How to Prepare?
For seeds: actives are all on the outside, so the best prep method is to shake for a minute or two in hot water and then strain. Steeping merely causes morphine in solution to soak into the seeds and be lost.

For pods: Grinding into a fine powder is my preferred method, but simply crushing the pods by hand seems to work just as well. Dosing by weight of ground powder is highly recommended to standardize the experience and lower the risk of accidental OD. I place the powder in tea filters and steep it in ~90C water (not quite boiling) for 20-30 minutes. Acidifying the water does not seem to help. After I do a hot water extraction, I generally leave the powder in cold water for another 8-12 hours and then use that water as a base for the next batch of tea. This does improve potency a fair amount.

How to Administer?
There are three good options: eat the pods, drink the tea, or plug the tea. Eating the pods is certainly the best way to get all the actives, but I opt for plugging in order to avoid unpleasant GI side effects. Rachamim mentioned in another thread that basifying the tea might help with bioavailability when plugging. I tried this today (3g calcium carbonate added to 750mL of solution), but it had no appreciable effect other than a burning sensation when plugged. :\

How to Potentiate?
Cimetidine (Tagamet) and grapefruit juice are usually mentioned as good potentiators. They seem to make little difference when plugging, probably because drugs absorbed through the colon are only partially subject to first-pass metabolism in any case. Even when poppies are consumed orally, the potentiation is not likely to be more than 10% or so. Worth a try, but don't get your hopes up.

Two substances that do work very well in combination with poppy tea are DXM (dextromethorphan, available OTC in cough remedies, but make sure it's the only active ingredient), and diphenhydramine (available in OTC allergy medications). I have found that even the "recommended" dose of these substances produces substantial effects in combination with poppy tea. I'm not sure potentiation is the correct term, though, because these substances are each psychoactive independently and add their own coloration to the experience. For instance, diphenhydramine makes me very sleepy. YMMV.

IMO the best "potentiator" of poppy tea is set and setting. Using the tea when you are relaxed and have no responsibilities or places to go is the best way to ensure a positive experience.

Tolerance
Tolerance is an unfortunate fact of life with opiates, and morphine is the original opiate. I have heard anecdotal reports that using small amounts of DXM daily can reduce opiate tolerance, but I have seen no clinical data on this and in my experience the effect is minor.

Edit: It is possible to get a smokeable product by evaporating pod tea. See this thread.
 
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Good thread idea.

Poppy seed tea isn't really worth it IMO. I rather take 5mgs of hydrocodone, or even codeine!

If you are interested in PST, make sure you buy bulk seeds. They could typically be found at whole sale stores or ethnic stores. McCormick(or other popular brands) are shit and their seeds may be pre-washed.
 
^^Exactly. And, as you say, anyone with ANY sort of tolerance with get absolutely nothing out of PST.

EDIT:
I'd like to add something about calculating your dose when making pod tea, or using pods at all. DO NOT go by number/size of pods! At best you could be disappointed and at worst you could end up in a life-threatening situation. ALWAYS grind ALL of your pod material and measure your doses by weight; ALWAYS.
 
Nice thread man.

I had a odd question about the caloric intake of poppies. I'll try to explain, bare with me. Does anyone know how much of the calories in poppy seeds you would consume with just washing the seeds? For example, 8.8g of poppy seeds has around 50 calories, so if I'm making tea with 250 or so grams of seed, but only actually eating a few of the seeds that make there way past filtering, am I still consuming a shit load of calories? Anyone have any info on this? I know it's kind of a retarded question, but I'm cutting weight right now, so I'd like some info on it.

Thanks for any help in advance. =D
 
McFresh said:
Nice thread man.

I had a odd question about the caloric intake of poppies. I'll try to explain, bare with me. Does anyone know how much of the calories in poppy seeds you would consume with just washing the seeds? For example, 8.8g of poppy seeds has around 50 calories, so if I'm making tea with 250 or so grams of seed, but only actually eating a few of the seeds that make there way past filtering, am I still consuming a shit load of calories? Anyone have any info on this? I know it's kind of a retarded question, but I'm cutting weight right now, so I'd like some info on it.

Thanks for any help in advance. =D

good question. if you grind up the seeds and boil them you're probably dissolving the sugars and starches in them and getting all the calories.

Better method would be to soak the seeds in cold water for 24 hours as your extraction. The opium in PST is just from whatever opium is sitting on the outside of the seed - the seeds themselves dont contain opium. So boiling isnt necessary. Cold water also reduces the nausea significantly because there are less waxes and shit released from the seeds.

This should help with the calories - opium is not a real significant source of energy, and if you just use cold water, you wont be getting any of the seeds' inner nutritional contents.
 
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