This post is in no way an attempt to refute claims made by others about the new water tek. I just have some questions in my mind as to weather it is a viable option to clean spice extraction. If this tek does work and the results are anywhere close to what the yeild of this bark has proven to be in the past, I am going to do a side by side comparison of this tek to a simple A\B extraction, but thats later on down the road.
I would like to thank those who laid the ground work for this tek especially Wanderer.
I am going to attempt to get results following Wanderer's tek as it has been outlined.
The DMTea Tek
Tools of Ye Trade
* Water
* Plant Material for Extraction
* A Saucepan
* Lye (Or Pickling Lime or maybe Na2CO3? Stick with lye until these are confirmed)
* Coffee Filters
* Love!
Ye Process for Glory!
Step One
So you're going to want to grab a saucepan of sufficient size, and tenderly pour some tasty plant material into it. Throw the pinky-finger out for good measure. After this, pour some water into the saucepan and, with the aid of a classy tea-time spoon, stir it up. Now put it on some heat and bring to a boil. Be careful not to let it boil over (like SWIM did!). If it's MHRB, it's going to smell a bit funny, so make sure you're cooking Indian food at the same time if you have suspicious roommates -- maybe some delicious curry... mmm!
Step Two!
After the tea has been brewing for some time (30-60 minutes should do), let it cool off a bit and let the plant material settle. Now pour off the water through a coffee filter and collect the delicious tea in a separate container. This should separate out the particulates and any oils. If its MHRB, it's going to be a nice purple-mahogany color. The filtering process can take a long-time, so make sure you have a nice book to read. After it's filtered, boil it down to about a quart or so (or more, depending on how much MHRB you used). I'd say 150g/quart is good, but whatever volume you choose, it should be of low enough viscosity to be able to be filtered easily. The heat shouldn't damage any of the tastiness in the Tea at this point since they are still in their natural salt forms.
Step Three
After it's been boiled down nicely, let it cool. Filter again if you'd like (SWIM didn't). Now take this remaining fluid and carefully add some lye. You will notice that it immediately makes the fluid turn opaque and a cream color, but stir it up and it will turn black (for MHRB). Keep adding lye until it's really nice and dark blackish-brown (or until no more cream-color forms when it's added).
Step Four
After adding some lye, you will notice some strange layer separating from the fluid, which almost looks like oil. Do not be alarmed, this is merely the tastiness coming out of the tea. The hydroxides break the salt-form of the tastiness into its freebase, which is insoluble with water. So now put the lye-tea somewhere pretty cool (not freezing) like the refrigerator (SWIM used his basement). Let it sit for a few days (2-3 days for SWIM). You will notice crystals forming out of the "oily" layer that formed on top of the tea after the lye was added. After the crystals are pretty well formed (.5-1cm across), you're ready for the next step.
Step Five
Now take the crystally tea and pour it through another coffee filter. This time the crystals will be trapped in the filter. After most of the blackish liquid has drained out and you are left with dirty-looking crystals. Fear not! To clean them, simply get fresh, clean water and drip it over the crystals (slowly). An eyedropper works well for this. None of the tastiness will be lost since the crystal structure is fairly robust so long as the water isn't superheated. This will clean all the lye-filled coffee-looking tea from the crystals, and they should be clear-to-yellow in color.
Now simply take the coffee filter and let it dry. Your extracted crystal magic is now ready!
The process was started today. I put 100 grams if high quality purple inner MHRB into a small stainless steele pot. I put just enogh water in the pot to completely cover the bark. The bark is now at a simmering boil. I will leave it to boil for exactly :90 minutes.
I will make updates to this step by step as they happen.
I welcome any and all coments and suggestions to help make this a successful extraction.
I would like to thank those who laid the ground work for this tek especially Wanderer.
I am going to attempt to get results following Wanderer's tek as it has been outlined.
The DMTea Tek
Tools of Ye Trade
* Water
* Plant Material for Extraction
* A Saucepan
* Lye (Or Pickling Lime or maybe Na2CO3? Stick with lye until these are confirmed)
* Coffee Filters
* Love!
Ye Process for Glory!
Step One
So you're going to want to grab a saucepan of sufficient size, and tenderly pour some tasty plant material into it. Throw the pinky-finger out for good measure. After this, pour some water into the saucepan and, with the aid of a classy tea-time spoon, stir it up. Now put it on some heat and bring to a boil. Be careful not to let it boil over (like SWIM did!). If it's MHRB, it's going to smell a bit funny, so make sure you're cooking Indian food at the same time if you have suspicious roommates -- maybe some delicious curry... mmm!
Step Two!
After the tea has been brewing for some time (30-60 minutes should do), let it cool off a bit and let the plant material settle. Now pour off the water through a coffee filter and collect the delicious tea in a separate container. This should separate out the particulates and any oils. If its MHRB, it's going to be a nice purple-mahogany color. The filtering process can take a long-time, so make sure you have a nice book to read. After it's filtered, boil it down to about a quart or so (or more, depending on how much MHRB you used). I'd say 150g/quart is good, but whatever volume you choose, it should be of low enough viscosity to be able to be filtered easily. The heat shouldn't damage any of the tastiness in the Tea at this point since they are still in their natural salt forms.
Step Three
After it's been boiled down nicely, let it cool. Filter again if you'd like (SWIM didn't). Now take this remaining fluid and carefully add some lye. You will notice that it immediately makes the fluid turn opaque and a cream color, but stir it up and it will turn black (for MHRB). Keep adding lye until it's really nice and dark blackish-brown (or until no more cream-color forms when it's added).
Step Four
After adding some lye, you will notice some strange layer separating from the fluid, which almost looks like oil. Do not be alarmed, this is merely the tastiness coming out of the tea. The hydroxides break the salt-form of the tastiness into its freebase, which is insoluble with water. So now put the lye-tea somewhere pretty cool (not freezing) like the refrigerator (SWIM used his basement). Let it sit for a few days (2-3 days for SWIM). You will notice crystals forming out of the "oily" layer that formed on top of the tea after the lye was added. After the crystals are pretty well formed (.5-1cm across), you're ready for the next step.
Step Five
Now take the crystally tea and pour it through another coffee filter. This time the crystals will be trapped in the filter. After most of the blackish liquid has drained out and you are left with dirty-looking crystals. Fear not! To clean them, simply get fresh, clean water and drip it over the crystals (slowly). An eyedropper works well for this. None of the tastiness will be lost since the crystal structure is fairly robust so long as the water isn't superheated. This will clean all the lye-filled coffee-looking tea from the crystals, and they should be clear-to-yellow in color.
Now simply take the coffee filter and let it dry. Your extracted crystal magic is now ready!
The process was started today. I put 100 grams if high quality purple inner MHRB into a small stainless steele pot. I put just enogh water in the pot to completely cover the bark. The bark is now at a simmering boil. I will leave it to boil for exactly :90 minutes.
I will make updates to this step by step as they happen.
I welcome any and all coments and suggestions to help make this a successful extraction.
