Mescalina - Preparing San Pedro

[MsNobody]

I have a San Pedro cactus and would like to know if any of you have the knowledge to prep it. 

I've looked into preparing the brew but it seems to be very tricky, so I'm looking for a dehydration method. Open to any advice on how to best use it. I've had it for years and it's growing so much that I need to cut it.

Thank you!

[AtheisticNonduality]

I would ask @electroBeam since he's done it successfully multiple times, although he doesn't seem very active.

[halfknots]

Are you looking to prepare it for use, or simply dry and preserve the cactus?

[Leo Gura]

You take about a foot of it and throw it into the blender to make a smoothie.

But be warned, you're gonna be vomiting it up something awful. Mescaline is notorious nauseating by itself, never mind the cactus. Drinking 1 foot of cactus is gonna be disgusting and you're not going to know how potent it is because it varies from cactus to cactus depending on how much sunlight it got.

[something_else]

Quote

You take about a foot of it and throw it into the blender to make a smoothie.

When I took it, I did exactly this, though I also boiled it down for 6 hours into a tea. So it was about 300ml of cactus tea that tasted like 300ml of tea that had been sitting out in the desert for 300 years.

I can still make myself gag thinking about the taste of that juice to this day, and I don't think I could drink it again with a gun to my head.

God knows what the unboiled-down cactus smoothie tastes like.

32 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

But be warned, you're gonna be vomiting it up something awful

Yup. It was awful.

It really involves so much effort and pain for so little gain. Practically the only upside is that you can often source a cactus more easily than other substances.

But now that I've got a comparison point: tabs of acid, I don't see why you'd ever go to the effort of taking cactus. 1 hour of chopping and blending, 6-8 hrs of boiling and stirring, 1 hour of straining, 30 mins to force the remaining liquid down your throat, 2 hours of nausea, then maybe 4 hours of a medium level trip.

Versus popping a bit of paper in your mouth for 20 minutes.

 

[julienw]

@MsNobody I used this tek a couple times about 6-7 years ago in college. At that time, I learned that San Pedro was totally legal and that you could make mescaline from it, so I went ahead and purchased 13 lbs of cuttings on eBay for like $55. A total bargain! That was before I realized that that was way more than I could ever get through, considering the time it took to prepare a dose and the taste. Anyways, here's what I did. It's not bad at all if you set aside an afternoon or evening to prep it.

Take a 1 foot cutting and slice it like a cucumber into 1/2 inch thick star sections. Further cut these into quarters so they fit in a blender with equal parts cactus and water. Sometimes at this stage I would squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the mixture to try to potentiate the alkaloids (not sure about the science on this but, what the heck). This may take several rounds of blending. Pour mixture into a large pot and cook slowly on low heat, stirring regularly for about half an hour. Then you can heat it up a bit more to a light boil for about 3-4 hours. You may add more water during this period to prolong the boiling portion, but be sure to avoid burning. Finally, take a cheese cloth or old natural-fiber shirt and hang it over a bowl or the blender. Pour the goopey mixture onto the cloth and allow it to cool down enough that you can ring it out properly. Or you can hang it with a string or rope to allow the liquid to drip into the receptacle. Finally, drink it down once it's cool enough.

I stole this method directly from here if you want a more detailed look. Highly recommend: 

Erowid Cacti Preparation

Also be forewarned that the amount of mescaline in every cutting varies significantly and unpredictably. I had trips that were underwhelming and others that were pretty mind-blowing. However those results are pretty messy since for the strongest trip I ever had with San Pedro, I also took some acid along with the mescaline dose, and smoked weed at the tail end of the trip. But that was probably one of my best trips ever. Also, the taste is so uniquely bitter and nauseating that you probably want to have something sweet or tangy to chase it down with (orange juice or something). Good luck!

By the way, I don't know anything about a dehydration method. If anything, that sounds trickier. I would say this method is no more difficult than following a recipe for cooking a nice meal. In fact, it is probably easier. There's a lot of downtime where you just get to swirl the soup in the pot and watch the way the surface form patterns--in itself fairly psychedelic for some reason. I think it's because the density of this mixture and it's components are highly unusual compared to most things you would boil slowly for 4 hours, haha...

Edited July 7, 2022 by julienw

[Leo Gura]

@something_else Or just plug some methallylescaline

[julienw]

@Leo Gura Sounds extremely rad. Would try.

[eggopm3]

23 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You take about a foot of it and throw it into the blender to make a smoothie.

But be warned, you're gonna be vomiting it up something awful. Mescaline is notorious nauseating by itself, never mind the cactus. Drinking 1 foot of cactus is gonna be disgusting and you're not going to know how potent it is because it varies from cactus to cactus depending on how much sunlight it got.

Not everyone gets nausea and vomiting. My San Pedro trip was three quarters a great time, and one quarter explosive diarrhea. Also it tastes horrid. The human body was not built to digest cactus. I would like to try pure mescaline to compare however, because i suspect a lot of the digestive issues come from the fact that there are a ton of other alkaloids in there for your body to deal with beyond just the mescaline.

[something_else]

12 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

@something_else Or just plug some methallylescaline

Is that just a form of pure mescaline that you can buy like any other chemical? Would def try if possible. The actual mescaline trip was noticeably different than an acid trip, it felt more electric for lack of a better term. I'd like to explore that more without the hassle

Quote

I stole this method directly from here if you want a more detailed look. Highly recommend: 

Erowid Cacti Preparation

This is exactly the tek I followed too, as far as cactus goes I'd recommend it. It's probably the most efficient/effective/bearable way to take the cactus, but it still takes more than half a day.

Edited July 7, 2022 by something_else

[bmcnicho]

Something that others haven’t mentioned is that most of the mescaline is in the outer green layer.  So the white center can be discarded to reduce the amount of cactus ingested

[billiesimon]

19 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

@something_else Or just plug some methallylescaline

I have some MAL, but never tried it. Is it a worthy psychedelic? Have you tried it? 

[Razard86]

On 7/6/2022 at 0:29 PM, something_else said:

When I took it, I did exactly this, though I also boiled it down for 6 hours into a tea. So it was about 300ml of cactus tea that tasted like 300ml of tea that had been sitting out in the desert for 300 years.

I can still make myself gag thinking about the taste of that juice to this day, and I don't think I could drink it again with a gun to my head.

God knows what the unboiled-down cactus smoothie tastes like.

 

 

I'm sorry your experience was like this...but this was the funniest explanation of an experience!!! Thanks for the post!!!

[MsNobody]

Appreciate all the answers! I’m gonna cut mine but only use the greenest part which is where the alcaloide is. Then I will dehydrate and make a powder. 
 

I’ve had too much throwing up from ayahuasca already. Don’t really wanna go through that

?

[Jodistrict]

In drinking San Pedro, it helps to eat an orange slice after to cover up the taste.  The last time, I felt sick for 3 1/2 hours, but then the sickness lifted and I was in a space of peace and love.  

Edited July 31, 2022 by Jodistrict

[Bujo]

If you can get your hands on San Pedro powder this is slightly easier to consume, you mix it in water and quickly consume before it turns to mucus.

The doses vary depending on potency but the powder is typically made from the dried green skin of the cactus and not the flesh as it's more concentrated in the skin. But as others have said it's so disgusting and the purge is heavy.

I have had some nice experiences with mescaline and cactus powder though, it's great to take a functional dose for you and then go for a walk somewhere in nature.

 

[bmcnicho]

@Bujo I once stumbled across a website openly selling powder on the regular internet.  I don’t know if it’s safe to buy without legal trouble though, as while San Pedro is legal, I think powder would count as a “preparation” and be illegal.  I’m pretty sure cuttings are legal though.

But yeah, powder seems like it would be much easier to work with

[Bujo]

@bmcnicho yeah it definitely is considered prepared when powdered. I still haven't consumed anything more disgusting than a San Pedro smoothie! ? It makes Ayahuasca seem like fruit punch.