..i'm just slightly nail biting now, because the acetone step is being done before the de-fatting lol
(the actual 'tek' it's the other way round..i don't know if this makes a difference, but fingers crossed it should be ok)

also, as the final result depends on how thorough the washes are, an initial crude result could be re-wahed with the two solvents, and dried again...and of course filtering is very important..

and yes it is vaporisable in a similar manner to dmt, but slightly higher temperature...vaporisers, glass pipes, light bulbs or whatever will work to differing degrees..
the onset is a bit slower, and the duration slightly longer...

well..good luck with it
.



"The 'monkeys' have unleashed something...call it language, call it information, whatever it is, it has a life cycle of it's own..."

- Terrence McKenna (in live rap to music c.1992)

OK thought I'd just write up what's been done so far now, seeing as I'm not being very productive with what I'm supposed to be doing.

1oz of Psilocybe cyanescens were dried amongst silicon sachets and with a little gentle heat before jarring. After storing in the freezer they were powdered with a cheap blender, not quite as fine as I'd have liked.

The mushroom powder was mixed with 150ml-200ml of acetone (dried with epsom salts) and shaken every now and then for a couple of hours in a cool room (~12°C). The mixture was then put into the freezer for about an hour, then removed and shaken for a final hour.

The mixture was poured through a sieve to filter the bulk of mushroom material out, then back through filter paper to catch the finer powder. The filtered acetone was left cloudy yellow with a slight green tinge and was put aside for future examination.

250ml of DCM (dried with epsom salts) was added to the mushroom material. The mixture was shaken every now and then for about an hour, then put into the freezer where it will remain overnight... In the morning it will be removed and left for several hours before more shaking and filtering as with the acetone.

Thought I'd be able to add the images in-line and put captions underneath, but I don't know how. Anyway, first is just mushroom powder in acetone, last is filtered acetone. Others are just filtering.

How would swapping acetone and DCM order make any difference to the end product? Surely everything soluble in either solvent will be gone either way?

I just wanted to use the less toxic solvent first. so I know exactly what precautions to take with the DCM to make sure it doesn't get in me.

..i don't know enough, but it in theory should be ok...i just stuck to the tek that's all..

either way, you won't lose anything as long as it's all kept...

i think it'll be fine...this is a good experiment...that i like

just saw pics...is looking good...good work

I have smoked an extract that would not form any crystals. It was a dark amber goo and I only obtained a small amount. I smoked it in a bong between some leaves and I did experience mild tryptamine effects for roughly 30 minutes.

I never did an acetone wash.

Continuing on...

DCM mixture was stirred shaken occasionally for a few hours, then stored in the freezer overnight. In the morning it was again shaken occasionally for a few hours in a cold room (~12°C). This yielded a similar cloudy yellowish solution that was then strained and filtered and put aside for future examination.

The remaining mushroom powder was mixed with ~250ml of Methanol (not dried but apparently pure), shaken occasionally for a few hours and stored in the freezer overnight. In the morning it was shaken occasionally for a few hours then gradually bought to ~40°C in a water bath, and kept there for about half an hour shaking occasionally. Whilst still warm the mixture was strained and filtered and put aside.

Another ~200ml of methanol was added and treated as above over a shorter time period, then combined with the last lot. This was repeated very briefly with a third lot of ~100ml methanol, each time heating, filtering and combining.

I now have ~500ml of methanol which hopefully contain all my actives. It is also a yellowish cloudy solution with a slight greenish tinge. Some powder remains from ripped filters and sloppy technique, I may filter again before evaporation.

Pictures:
1 - DCM pull
2 - Decanting top layer with a turkey baster to filter bulk of powder separately
3 - Mushrooms & Methanol in warm water bath
4 - Filtering methanol

Now what was really interesting whilst filtering the DCM was that I appeared to be performing some kind of accidental chromatography. As the DCM went through the filter paper, crystals started forming along the edge of the paper. They were pure white and growing before my eyes. As soon as the DCM was finished and I removed the papers, the crystals started to disappear, leaving no trace.

Any idea what they were. I hope not my actives though I'm sure they weren't.

Take a look:
(By the way, DMT-Nexus needs EXIF orientation)

Oops, missed the attach files check box!

^..well, no the actives don't evaporate...i'd guess it's crystals of water ice (or maybe a fatty alcohol) forming from the refrigerating action of the cool dcm...

How much would you recommend smoking nen? Like as equivalent to g of dried cubes or whatever.

it depends on how 'clean' it comes out ...and is easier for me to recall the goo, and say around 20mg and beyond..

that r.o.a. i only knew a few times, and there aren't many people to compare notes with

So I was thinking about reducing a portion of my extract by evap, soaking some herbs (maybe just tea) in it, evaporating till completely dry, sticking them in a pipe with some unsoaked herbs on top and smoking like that. Basically mushroom changa. What do you think?

that would work...though i also think it's good to see the final result on it's own..you get an idea how pure it is then..it'll be milder in that method than vaped...dosage..what would you normally take..3-5grams dried? tea (camilia) could be a bit harsh though...there should be various enhanced leaf suggestions on the nexus

i don't know if 'mushroom changa' is the right name though..

i'd venture nuevo 'humito'..

when i first was made aware that psilocybin could be smoked, i immediately thought well, whatever various criticisms have been made of Carlos Casteneda (and whatever the truth of events in those books, which there are a few threads looking at), at least the often ventured claim that it must be all made up because you can't smoke mushrooms doesn't hold..

it very well may work to take some psilocybe, dry dry dry with certain aromatic herbs (like sage) for a few years...and then smoke in a ritual pipe..
that, of course, was what the books say Don Juan called the 'humito' - 'little smoke'..
.

peaceful journeys, user_7

Humito - I like this!

I've designed a possible extraction method using essential oils and some other household supplies which I will post in detail soon, when I have the time. It needs work on a couple of diagrams but it's too sunny today for that!

I evaporated about 10% (~50ml or 2.8g dried mushroom equivalent - losses) and it's left a yellowish oily stain on my plate. Reminds me a lot of when I did a DMT STB but less crystaly. What's interesting is the strong, slightly fungal sweet smell - kind of like toffee or something, can't quite put my finger on it. Hope it's not just pure sugars! Will scrape it up and have a smoke tomorrow.

If it works, as one final cleaning step how about evaporating methanol, add warm water and naphtha. Shake and sit. Discard naptha, keep water. Might pull some more unwanted crap?

Interested to hear your method DFZ

I scraped up the stain and it was like a wet greenish oil. I mopped it up with some peppermint from a teabag, put the infused herb in a pipe in a peppermint sandwich in a pipe and smoked it. Nothing

Here's the product

hmm..the two results i'm aware of were a dark brown/purple solid goo, and a blue/grey semi-crystaline product purer) ..
these are both with the technique verbatim, though
...while i'm not sure exactly technically why, i was concerned the defatting didn't occur first (as is standard procedure in extraction generally), and this could affect things...i would now see what's in the other evaps..disappointing but don't give up yet..the alks are somewhere..
the procedure done exactly as Hofmann says has worked for a few people..

and yes i look forward to the new downwardsfromzero technique

That looks just like the extract I smoked. Effects were minimal. There was some effect, but it was very mild and not visual at all or really psychedelic.

A similar extract, when dried with some powder to stop it from caking, was much more active snuffed.