How are you brewing it, exactly?
I usually do the three boils, combine, and reduce (the method you use). This last batch, I simmered it for some hours and then left it overnight at low heat (just below simmering point) to see if there was any difference in the result. There wasn't, only the sludge seemed to have become better suspended in the liquid. I always acidify before simmering, I used to use vinegar but I have switched to malic acid, as the resulting brew has a less strong flavor and smell that way.
I always do a fridge decant and filter it several times through a coffee filter.
Do you take it together or separately?
I have first the harmalas (a freebase extract) and 20-30 minutes later I drink the mimosa. The harmalas never have failed to exit the stomach, and lately their effect has become faster in its onset and more intense.
On its own or with fruit juice?
Usually on its own, this last time I had a spoonful of honey with the mimosa.
I use Syrian Rue and Acacia Confusa in my brews.
I haven't tried Acacia confusa, it's supposed to have less tannins but you also need more, right? If you have tried Mimosa hostilis, how does it compare? Both in stomach discomfort and in effects.
what I found helped the most of all was making sure to filter the brews extremely well through the finest cloth I could find, before then reducing it down
I agree, once I didn't properly filter and decant and the nausea was quite terrible. I use coffee filters and filter it several times, but amazingly a lot of gunk still seems to get through. Over the weeks I keep decanting the brew more times (usually before taking it), and my only nausea-free experience so far was with the last remains of a batch that I had been decanting for six weeks.
The remaining sediment from the Confusa seems fine on the stomach
Interesting, that's not the case with Mimosa at all. It may be worth a try then.
While I brew the Syrian Rue and Confusa separately, but I always mix them together before drinking, then also adding a bigger ratio of pure pear juice to emulate the sugar content in fresh Caapi vine. Taking them separately or having another dose would just make me vomit. Mixing in the pear juice seems to heighten the absorption of it, making vomiting much less probable. Also, not tasting the brew itself seems to help with settling the vomit reflex, as all I can smell and taste is pear juice, basically.
I will try that, then. When you say taking them separately would make you vomit, is it because of the taste or something else? I have been wondering if maybe the harmalas were causing that apparent slowdown in stomach emptying. Given that they lower blood sugar and have even some modest GLP-1 effects, it doesn't sound unreasonable. Luckily the taste doesn't bother me much, I never get nausea from drinking the brew itself, it comes later. If I drank rue tea it would definitely bother me, it's probably the worst flavor I have ever experienced.
Do you usually drink it on an empty stomach?
This is completely unrelated, but I was reflecting about it, and noticed that there has been an important change over time with how I approach nausea and stomach pain. At the beginning, it brought a lot of anxiety, negative feelings, bad memories from the past. There was a psychological component of the pain that doesn't seem to be present anymore; that may be the reason why now the only pain is the pain caused by gas (no anxiety pain). I have also become much less afraid of vomiting, and I understand much better that there's a voluntary component to it -- up to a point. I'm curious to see how it goes next time I have the flu, I'm getting a good training on many of its symptoms
, not so unpleasant and feels much more as cleansing. 