A jaunt with CIELO. Eventually others...

[DetritusTheEgo]

It has been several years in the making but have reached the point where I have everything to attempt my first mescaline extract. I do not have any experience with mescaline and have been excited for the day where I have my first experience with the compound knowing I personally grew it, harvested, and extracted it being it's guide from start to finish. I found this grounded and connected me more to mushroom experience. Cacti has been a lesson in patience given it's lifecycle is far greater but has been nothing but a pleasure throughout.

When I first looked into mescaline extracting, a good five years ago plus, I had defaulted to Kash's A/B Mescaline Extraction. I then watched Madhattress journey a few years back in Mescaline: Kash AB HCl and Cielo Extraction Attempts(update: Extractions Complete) +New extractions, and that made me favor CIELO as my initial foray. pete666's recent Trichocereus potency testing also made me discover his STB Mescaline Extraction TEK and (Back-)salting mescaline by HCl titration. I am not prepared with the components necessary to do either of these extracts currently, but would enjoy doing both at a future date just for the fun of the extract.

I figured I'd make a post here where I can document my extract journey. Welcome to anyone who would like to tag along , I'm not going to be doing anything ground-breaking but happy to have you.

All of my cacti material was cut and stored in the dark or at low ambient light conditions anywhere from six to twelve+ months. When it came time to cut and dry the cacti it was done at room temperature with circulating air being added. I used a multi-tool or needle nose pliers to break off large spines whenever it was convenient for the variety being worked with. I included the core with all of the material I have saved and did not de-skin / de-wax any. I currently have the material separated in a way where I can garner a potency of individual cultivars, much like pete666 shared recently ( thank you for that reference material! ).

CIELO Extract #1:
I have ~100g blended to a fine powder with both citric acid and fumaric acid at my disposal. I plan to go the fumaric acid route trusting the benefits that it has over the once default citric acid. My first batches cacti material also being a no name 'PC' cultivar from my collection lends to the assumption this batch may not be a high yielder.

 

[Loveall]

Sounds good please report back.

I recommend using the online calculator linked in the main TEK and the 2x EA option.

If you use the calculator, please report on that.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Thanks Loveall, I was just looking through the calculator last evening and was thinking 'I wonder when this got added...' It seemed like a great companion to the tek. I will make use of it.

One thing that did jump out to me was the 1xEA vs 2xEA option in the calculator. I hadn't decided which I was going to go with but saw that both expect to lose about the same amount of EA ~102g. I'll go with that recommendation.

 

[Loveall]

Yes, the EA that gets stuck in the french press is constant for the same wet cumb mix. It a function of how much gets stuck in the water and plant matter, and independent of the total amount of EA pulled.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Made some progress today.



Stopped before the crystallization as I see some brighter colored sediment. How do you know if it is debris or water? I already did a filter through two coffee filters after I pulled the ethyl acetate from the french press which makes me think water potentially. I did the filter from this half gallon ball jar into two 1000ml flasks then back into this half gallon, so maybe just wasn't thorough and left some stragglers in the half gallon.

 

[SkunK]

Looking good man! Many years ago I embarked on the same journy you are on! From seed through to extraction! Nothing more rewarding than that following the cycle through from start to finish and knowing you will now always have a source for your own medicine!

I have always gotten quality results from Kashs A/B and it has been my go to, but I am looking at and reading up on CIELO and looking at pulling an extract in the near future.

 

[Loveall]

Are you using doubled coffe filters? That looks like debris not water. You need to filter them out.

How many debris are in your original filter? You probably want to add a little more water. Your clumped up mass has cracks in it and is not sticking well. That is probably the reason you got some lose debris n your EA.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Looking good man! Many years ago I embarked on the same journy you are on! From seed through to extraction! Nothing more rewarding than that following the cycle through from start to finish and knowing you will now always have a source for your own medicine!

I have always gotten quality results from Kashs A/B and it has been my go to, but I am looking at and reading up on CIELO and looking at pulling an extract in the near future.

Thanks and agreed! I'm interested to observe the difference between the extract methods. I think whichever method will scale the best to slightly large extract amounts so I don't have to extract as many times and consume as much solvent may end up being the winner for me. Solvent is hard to come by where I am, the ethyl acetate I have currently was a five hour round trip.

Are you using doubled coffe filters? That looks like debris not water. You need to filter them out.

How many debris are in your original filter? You probably want to add a little more water. Your clumped up mass has cracks in it and is not sticking well. That is probably the reason you got some lose debris n your EA.

Thanks for the feedback. I always assumed too much water would be my fail on that stage not too little! I'm reviewing the pictures of my mixture and was curious what called out to you the most as being under hydrated? My pictures in order were the mix, a ball when grabbing some and squeezing, and the ball when I crumbled it back. I'm guessing the first picture without my hands is the best indicator now that I review the pictures in the tek again. I had made an assumption that ideal hydration mix was in the clump then crumble stage for whatever reason. I added the 130ml of dH2O and it seemed to pass the 'forms a clump but breaks back apart easily when squeezed' so I did not use any of the reserve.

I did have sediment in the filter when I collected the EA. Was something I figured I need to rectify with my french press. I noticed that my french press had a divet in a section so was thinking may have been one factor.



I did not clean the half gallon before I poured the two coffee filtered ethyl acetate flasks back into it. High probability that could have contributed to the remaining sediment.

I filtered again this evening through two coffee filters into a clean half gallon jar. Saw no sediment after four hours of settling. I added 3g of fumaric and elected to test my patience further by doing the slow crystallization method. Will check in a few days.

 

[Loveall]

It was the cracks/ridges and fallen edge in your clumped up mass. It is barely holding together. Compare to the TEK where the clump has a smoother surface.

A little bit of sediment is OK in the filters, but if the filtering begins to slow down, that is a clear indication that not enough water was used to bind small particles to the paste.

Not sure what to make of the french press ridge. I do feel like your minor issue was not enough water. It is not a big deal, just adds a little work filter before salting.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Huzzah! I'd call it a success . Thanks for the insight and the work on the tek Loveall + Nexians!

Still going to give it until Saturday was my initial plan via the slow crystallization method. I still see undissolved fumaric acid at the base ( lighter color and look more like salt granules ) and there are longer needle shaped crystals formed and forming above. I'll do some gentle stirring if I still see the fumaric at that point versus tossing it on the magnetic stirrer but welcome to input / feedback.

 

[Loveall]

Sometimes the first xtals can be powdery, so that may not be necessarily undissolved fumaric (FYI)

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

I looked back at past photo of when I cut the cacti I used for my first extract. It was cut in May 2025 and was then cut and dried April 2026 so stressed just shy of twelve months. Here is the mother of that no name San Pedro PC. The pups are all fresh growth from when it was cut in spring until hybernation last year:



The ethyl acetate I used for my extract has a beautiful red hue via UV:



I only did PH strip once my third pull was complete. I got caught up in the process and forgot to do it after each:



I've been taking pictures of the slow crystallization process and will post some more in a few days when I have completed the wash and dry process. It made me appreciate the 'Mescaline crystals in ethyl acetate' picture from the CIELO tek even more based on how saturated the walls are. For now here are a couple:

 

[Transform]

That red fluorescence is quite typical for chlorophyll. I remember marvelling at it back in some early phalaris extraction experiments (well, it turned out I'd messed up and picked Dactylis glomerata, but that's another story.)

 

[Loveall]

Also, the picture in the TEK is of the citrate salt, which typically makes larger xtals

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

It was the cracks/ridges and fallen edge in your clumped up mass. It is barely holding together. Compare to the TEK where the clump has a smoother surface.

Speaking of Loveall out of curiosity, from your experience how much of the reserve do you estimate you'd have added given that level of hydration? Would aid me next time getting closer to that ideal consistency next time if you have a general ballpark estimate.

That red fluorescence is quite typical for chlorophyll. I remember marvelling at it back in some early phalaris extraction experiments (well, it turned out I'd messed up and picked Dactylis glomerata, but that's another story.)

That is interesting, thanks for elaborating. I had not done fresh ethyl acetate under the UV to start to identify potential constituents being the main contributor.

I have a new respect for those capable of capturing crystals in photography. They are quite elusive when in a glass container and suspended in a liquid of some sort. You think you find a good angle to the eye and then it's underexposed and washed out with glare from the several backlight sources. I hope you don't mind some crystal photos:



And alas the prize at the end of the rainbow... Mescaline fumarate:



I have not transferred it to it's final container but looking like 1.15g aka 1.15% even with a under hydration misstep.

 

[Loveall]

Hard to say how much more water I would have added. Probably a splash of ~10ml and then would have checked again.

It's hard to explain. Best thing is to do is practice and get a feel for it.

Great result here

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Hard to say how much more water I would have added. Probably a splash of ~10ml and then would have checked again.

It's hard to explain. Best thing is to do is practice and get a feel for it.

Great result here

Understandable and I wouldn't hold you to the guesstimate. That pretty much aligns with how I'd approach it. Was thinking maybe 5 to 10% and go from there.

I'm going through and composing some thoughts and feedback on the calculator. I appreciate how much knowledge, insight, and experience you bring to mescaline seeking psychonauts. I'm not frequent on Reddit but have been perusing the r/mescaline subreddit since this extract began. I see you dropping wisdom there and here whenever this extract and others is taking place. It's immensely helpful and appreciated.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

As I'm reviewing this to submit I see a wall of text... My apologies to those with post cellphone attention spans

Input and feedback on the calculator:
The calculator was a great companion to the tek. I reread the tek the evening before the extract and again maybe an hour before the extract same day. I split screened the tek and calculator on my laptop. For the most part I was able to mostly interact with only the calculator and would read sections of the tek simply to make sure what I was doing next was the correct action.

I had located the calculator on Github and also the one linked in the tek. I wasn't confident they were the same version or if either was more preferred than the other. That being the case I referenced the calculator linked via the Wiki tek hosted on DMT Nexus at CIELO - Interactive Extraction Guide.

The calculator did not fully replace me taking notes which I think is a perfectly fine place for it to be at. I like to document the weight of items used in the process like jar weights, lids, magnetic stir bar, etc. Then for example when I have a container full of ethyl acetate with lid on and stir bar inside I can calculate the weight of just the ethyl acetate without having to pour it into a new container. I think it is also just nice to take written notes to document observations to then reread and improve or adjust workflows. One such note I took was that I wasn't sure if it was first extract jitter or what, but I weighed out all three pulls of ethyl acetate prior to hydrating the cactus powder into 1000ml flasks.

I would not mind if the alarm that goes off once a pull or rest timer ends was more obnoxious. I think it currently is perfectly fine as well. Potentially have the same sound but repeat it several times as an option. I was listening to music while doing the tek from my phone with a bluetooth speaker, so I don't think any of the timers I actually heard the timer alarm go off. I was paying attention to the pull and rest timers and didn't miss a transition.

I have a strange appreciation for single file HTML+CSS+Javascript tools. I made and distributed several with my team before AI and after AI it has supercharged my ability to construct working HTML tools for tasks that I would never have bothered previously. These are amazing and the calculator is friendly to this concept with a few minor modifications. I have a local copy of the calculator saved and it works once I converted the 'assets/fonts.css' and the 'assets/style.css' to inline <style></style> tags. I had to double check the proper starting HTML for the '3 Extract' section since it dynamically hides / adds the pulls. Don't really expect many folks to care about having a local version of the calculator, the steps it took to make it wasn't drastic, but figured I'd mention it.

Prepping for another extract and random musings:
I have not yet washed my solvent but intend to once I acquire the washing soda. I have organic vapor respirator cartridges on the way which I will wait for before I do another extract. I was using googles and half face respirator with 2091 filters during my first extract whenever I had open air solvent. These are particulate filters and not meant for vapors which was clearly evident when you can readily smell the solvent with the respirator is on.

I think I'm going to do another CIELO on the same no name PC cactus material to try to experience how a properly hydrated mix feels. I mixed the first extract with gloved hands but I do have a stand mixer with a flat paddle attachment. I saw that listed as an optional upgrade in the tek. From there I will move onto some cultivars that I've wanted to know their potency. The cacti material I shared in my first posts image are lumberjack, eileen, SS02, CAJB, bouncing bear botanical bridgesii, and blue achuma. Blue achuma is high on my list to identify it's potency. Then CAJB. The others have some community results to garner a ballpark of what to expect.

I have been doing calculations of how many times I can reuse the solvent accounting for the actual ethyl acetate I lost on my first extract. I did the 2xEA method so 634g + 533g + 533g. After doing all the filtering I've got ~1520g of EA so I have lost ~180g. I likely lost more ethyl acetate than estimated due to the introduction of extra filtering through two coffee filters due to my under hydration and sediment. My area is arid so evaporation may be quite rapid with the open air solvent. I have a humidifier so I was curious about experimenting with adding humidity to the extract room to see if that had a measurable affect. Ethyl acetate is not impossible for me to obtain but is quite the task. I need to commute roughly five hours round trip to acquire it.

I have been looking around and thinking about whether there are any companion extracts that would utilize a more readily available solvent to me of which I could perform then do a CIELO style extract on to make it through a larger quantity of cacti material at a time. I don't want nor need to do commercial amounts but I also have to juggle several things to coordinate an extract that will become a prohibitive factor. So I was looking at some of the extracts with water and or ethanol like House's cacti preparation tek. CIELO with the 2xEA I could not scale the starting material and solvent with my current equipment particularly the 34oz french press. It may be feasible to do 200G starting material with the 1xEA format with double the amount of EA and five pulls potentially. Any feedback or thoughts is always welcome!

 

[Loveall]

If local hardware stores don't have EA (e.g. California), Can't you order it online?

Adding humidity won't reduce EA evaporation, it only affects water evaporation. To first order ideal gasses don't see each other. You can decrease evaporation by chilling the EA in the fridge first before use. The pulls will be slightly less efficient due to a lower partition coefficient, but you can model that with the calculator and, if needed, add an extra pull to get > 95%

How much of the 180g lost was trapped in the french press? Should be ~ 100g, maybe less for you since your crumbs were dry.

Can you share your calculator screen shot?

Finally some people distill the spent crumbs to recover the trapped EA, so that is possible if you are interested.