All at once camp here: As far as Ayahuasca is concerned, having dreamed over 55 times, in the beginning I would drink the caapi first, then the leaf brew 15 to 20 minutes later, it was hit and miss for me, then switched to drinking all at the exact same time, mixed together, always on an empty stomach, worked beautifully every time, very powerful and potent. Note that Jonathan Ott in his book "Pharmahuasca" always mixed his components all together in one single capsule, taking all at the same time, he noted great results as well. The Shamans take one single drink all at once, they never seperate the two. He also noted that he would eat very little the day of the experiment. I have found works best about 5 hours after having eating a meal. Any food in the stomach can lead to a disappointment. 69ron was a big believer in taking all at the same time as well, duplicating the way the Shamans dreamed the brew. Anyhow, that's my 2 cents having tried both ways, and found what works for me the best. Should any of the active light get trapped, I would simply eat a small slice of fattening cream cheese one hour later to activate the gall bladder, and kick the journey into full gear.
Like Jees mentions, consuming caapi or harmalas a couple hours earlier reminds me of the few times I have done this, then consumed the actual full brew 2 hours later, this can result in very powerful caapi heavy visions (but also the possibility for increased nausea) that would last around 6 hours for me, often well into the night, even seeing visions before trailing off to sleep...far away places and people and historical events, future and present scenes, very powerful all being brightened by the leaf or light. I would only did this a few times as it is more often for advanced users. I was not able to move around much, but my gosh with closed eyes, the visions were unbelievable and breath taking...very realistic and just like you read in the book "Antipodes of the Mind"....the teacher Caapi really takes over and shows you so very much. If you do this, you really want to keep your light or leaf portion low to medium on your actual full brew 2 hours later, or it will be too easy to throw it all up if you use an excessive amount of light. When I would do this, I would only take 1/2 of the dose of caapi I would normally take at 3pm, then at 5pm, take the full dose caapi + leaf for an amazing very long lasting journey.
You may remember me as 69Ron. I was suspended years ago for selling bunk products under false pretenses. I try to sneak back from time to time under different names, but unfortunately, the moderators of the DMT-Nexus are infinitely smarter than I am.
If you see me at the waterpark, please say hello. I'll be the delusional 50 something in the American flag Speedo, oiling up his monster guns while responding to imaginary requests for selfies from invisible teenage girls.