Harmala Brew Recipes

[JosBoaz]

ive used cacao about 50% of the time i used rue

Are you referring to raw cacao? If so, do you also have experience using chocolate milk powder?

I’ve noticed that chocolate milk powder masks the taste somewhat better than raw cacao. I’ve also noticed that adding raw cacao to the brew seems to make it spoil much faster compared with brews containing only harmala.

 

[harmala_afficianado]

Are you referring to raw cacao? If so, do you also have experience using chocolate milk powder?

I’e noticed that chocolate milk powder masks the taste somewhat better than raw cacao. I’ve also noticed that adding raw cacao to the brew seems to make it spoil much faster compared with brews containing only harmala.

I think i have used choco milk powder once or twice when i was out of cacao, it has sugar in it so yeah it makes sense that it would mask the taste better, but for me personally cacao seemed to mask it enough that i can drink a strong rue tea daily without gagging, at least most of the time lol, i would also sometimes add stevia with the cacao (natural sweetener) when i would drink very strong teas brewed with 8 grams or more.

Yes ive also noticed if i mix cacao with rue tea it spoils faster, which is why i make the rue tea and mix cacao in it right before drinking it.

 

[JosBoaz]

Harmala, Passionflower, and Lemon Balm Recipe

• Harmala seeds: 30 g (≈ 1.06 oz)
• Passionflower: 10 g (≈ 0.35 oz)
• Lemon Balm: 10 g (≈ 0.35 oz)
• Water: 1 L (≈ 33.8 US fl oz / 4.23 US cups / 4.0 metric cups)
• Pan: Stainless steel with metal lid
• Heating: 100°C (≈ 212°F) for 50 minutes
• Reduction: Reduce the liquid to 100 mL (≈ 3.38 US fl oz / 0.42 US cups)
• Dosage: 30mL

Dosage / Redosing
Do not drink the entire preparation, or the 30 mL for that matter. Start with a teaspoon quantity and wait 1.5 hours before considering a redose.

Although this post, as well as the entire thread, is intended for my own documentation purposes, I am obligated to provide safety advice because this thread/post is accessible to the wider public.

Volume & Harmala Equivalents
1 teaspoon (tsp) ≈ 5 mL
1 tablespoon (tbsp / eating spoon) ≈ 15 mL

5 mL ≈ 1.5 g harmala
15 mL ≈ 4.5 g harmala
30 mL ≈ 9.0 g harmala

Temperature Note
Temperatures reflect the settings of my stove.

 

[Transform]

This is not a recipe developed by Josboaz, it is developed by Transform.

Transform’s Harmala Recipe

Ingredients

• 3.2 g harmala seeds, ground​
• 300 mL water per boil​
• 160 mg vitamin C – only first boil​

Method

1. Seeds: Ground harmala seeds — 3.2 g (0.113 oz).
2. Water: 300 mL (10.1 US fl oz / 1¼ US cups) per boil.
3. Vitamin C: 160 mg (0.0056 oz) — first boil only.
4. Lid: Put a lid on the pan with a small vent hole.
5. First boil: Simmer for a long time, reducing the liquid by approximately half.
6. Filtering: Filter the liquid and retain the plant material.
7. Second boil: Add another 300 mL (10.1 US fl oz / 1¼ US cups) water to the retained seeds and simmer again, reducing the liquid by approximately half.
8. Filtering: Filter the second extraction.
9. Combining: Combine the two filtered liquids.

Added explanation:
I do use a lid, and it has a small vent hole. I only strain the seeds - I have some paper teabags which help with that. Filtering with a cotton plug gets rid of some fine seed particulates though. The first brew with ground seeds tends to have a pectin haze that won't go away. Crushing the seeds with a mortar and pestle will also work, and whole seeds will make a slightly cleaner brew, but the latter needs three or more brews for better efficacy.

It may be possible to remove pectin gunk with a preliminary boil in slightly alkaline water (eg, sodium carbonate), which stops the alks from dissolving, although that would be an additional complication and rather experimental. Moar acid would be needed after that.

FTR, I did this using distilled water for the first boil and added a teaspoon of holly blossom honey before drinking. There's a woody aromatic note from that particular kind of honey that complemented this particular brew, even if the last sips were every bit as bitter as they usually are. Overall it seemed a lot 'clearer' in terms of effect, but this might be because of lower dose (having drunk only the first boil) and also my readjusting back to rue's powers from having done several days of consecutive brewing.

I think individual honey types could be used with intention to tune the effects of the brew, since they effectively constitute a special kind of plant extract. For those who are into the symbology of plants, and perhaps trees in particular, this might be a fun one to explore.

 

[JosBoaz]

The following post will violate the (current) conditions of the thread, namely, it is a thread that archives my harmala brew recipes. While I deviated from these conditions before on the following dates:

21 January 2026 3:30 PM UTC, posting a link to my harmala resin tek.
29 August 2026 4:08 PM UTC posting @northape harmala brew recipe.
29 August 2026 11:54 PM UTC posting @Transform harmala brew recipe.

The following is a tek that details how to perform pure harmala alkaloid extraction. This was posted on DMT Nexus on 20 September 2026 11:52 AM UTC by @The Sofa Traveler

Here is another one with more concise writing and some personal insights : forget Tao of rue and forget the hassle of manske/HCL. Freebase will cover all of your uses (oral, sublingual, smoked, even snorted), it's the most versatile form and the one who requires the less work. Here is the tek I use for my extractions - thanks @CosmicLion, Nexus is missing you - that I tweaked as follows :

• No need to grind/powder seeds : it's just more hassle to filter (it's not an instruction from this tek but from Tao of Rue). Time saving.
• Other than vinegar (acetic acid) can be used instead, I always use citric acid and have a pH of 4-5 in sight. If you can't measure pH precisely it's not a problem, pH strips do the job, the most important is that the water is acidified enough. Not too much because it could create an emulsion when you add the base. Weigh/measure your acid and water amounts, so you don't have longer to check the pH for next extractions.
• Start from sodium carbonate (SC) rather than converting baking soda to SC. Time saving.
• Prefer SC over lye, it requires less caution, it's less expensive and doesn't affect the yield (this tek doesn't mention lye but Tao of Rue does). Risks and cautions saving.
• You can discard first gunk from tea by passing the brew through a cotton cloth if you don't want to wait hours for the gunk settling at the bottom of the bottle (that's what I do). Time saving.
• Saturated Sodium Carbonate Solution (SSCS in the tek) can be done with measured amounts using a ratio of 2g SC/1cl water. Heat slightly the water for faster dissolving.
• Repeating the refining crude extracts steps 2 times is enough. You won't get much purer harmalas from repeating the step more times. Time saving.
• After the refining steps done twice, pour distilled water over the harmalas in the coffee filter until the water color is no longer yellowish. This is not mentioned in the tek but it's what allows to stick to only 2 refining steps.
• Dry -> enjoy.

Over time, you'll find yourself adding your own tricks, adjusting brew simmering time, using more adequate amounts of SSCS and so on.

Doing so really doesn't require high commitment. As I said, most of the time taken by the extraction is decanting time. You can expect 5% average yield of nice clear tan freebase (see pic), with variations in yield depending on seeds alkaloids content. Sometimes you might have weak seeds with only 3-4% content and sometimes (rarely) exceptionally high content seeds with 6-8%.
You can get your final product in 2-4 days if you accelerate the drying steps using a heat source. I’m never in a rush because I plan ahead for the extraction; I don’t wait until my last dose to get started.
Doses wise : freebase requires lower amounts than HCL. Tracers land start from 200-250mg doses. 400mg doses are more challenging. Expect insane tracers and stroboscopic visuals, auditory distortions, hypnagogic states and difficulties to move. My usual dose for more or less daily use is 150mg (oral) or 60/70mg (sublingual). Oral dose can be taken in capsule, freebase will be converted to salts by stomach hydrochloric acid. For faster absorption, freebase can also beforehand be dissolved in a few lemon juice (harmalas citrate), add a few water and gulp down the hatch (my favored method, kicks in faster). For sublingual use I put the powder in a capsule, drill small holes in it with a syringe needle, give it a bean shape and put it under the tongue. All should have been absorbed in about 15mn. Powder can be smoked/vaporized as it is but tend to clog if you roll it in a joint. Infused herbs to be smoked/vaporized can be done with IPA.
Those aiming for harmine/harmaline separation will need precise pH meter. It implies yield loss and more time consuming. I prefer to stick to mixed harmine/harmaline freebase. Harmaline brings its own psychedelic touch to rue experience.

 

[JosBoaz]

Harmala Resin TEK II

• Harmala seeds: 100 g (3.53 oz)​
• Acetic acid/vinegar: 450 g (15.87 oz by weight)​
• Water: 2,000 mL (8.45 US cups / 67.63 US fl oz)​
• Big pan + lid​
• Stove: 240°C (464°F) – 2 hours​

After cooking is finished, let the pan cool down for 1H, before Step 6: - Gross Filtration.
Wait 8H for Step 7: - Sedimentation but 12H or 24H is also permissible.

Thread Note
This thread, as well as this post, is intended solely to log and document my recipes. Kindly post personal opinions about my recipes in another thread, as I would like to keep this thread focused solely on collecting and documenting my recipes. Thank you very much.

Temperature Note
Temperatures reflect the settings of my stove.