How to prepare an Ayahuasca Brew

Ayahuasca is an umbrella term that refers to a wide variety of traditional and modern brews and infusions of natural plant sources that produce powerful psychoactive or hallucinogenic effects. Of these, it most commonly consists of a DMT-containing plant source in combination with one that contains an MAOI or RIMA (typically sources like B. caapi vine or Syrian Rue) to produce uniquely potent, sometimes medicinal, psychedelic effects. Let’s make some!

• Cooking pot (Do not use copper as it can contaminate your final product)
• Coffee Grinder or Mortal & Pestle
• Coffee Filters
• Sieve (For Step 8, disregard if you choose to skip this step)

• 5 to 10 g Mimosa hostilis root bark
• 12 to 25 g Banisteriopsis caapi dried vine OR 3 to 6 g of Peganum harmala seeds)
• 400 mL Water
• 1 Lemon
• 1 or 2 Chicken Eggs

1. Measure out the M. hostilis and B. caapi (or P. harmala), double check all measurements to avoid any surprises.
2. Grind the into a rough to fine powder – the finer the quicker the extraction will work, but the more slowly it will filter. So the sweet spot is a powder with the consistency of sand, not clay.
3. Place the water into your cooking pot and squeeze the juice of the lemon into the mixture before adding your powdered materials. The acidity of the lemon will help to dissolve the substances you’re after.
4. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil aggressively as this can destroy or damage the substances being extracted.
5. Maintain this gentle simmer and top it up with extra water as needed to avoid any burning. You’ll want to simmer the mixture down to about half it’s original volume and top it up again at least twice. This isn’t a must, but it will greatly increase the potency of your final product.
6. Once this cycle has been completed the solution can be filtered to remove all the solids remaining. Filtering while the solution is warm tends to aid in speeding up filtration.
7. Return the filtered solution to your pot and bring it back to a simmer.
8. This step uses eggs and is optional. If you are vegan or have an allergy to eggs this can be skipped, but it is traditionally used to reduce the potential for nausea from the brew. Separate your egg whites out and add them to the simmering solution. Stir them around gently until they become solid and opaque, then filter them out using your sieve. This removes tannins from the solution while leaving the desired substances untouched.
9. Add your solution back to the pot and simmer it until the volume has been reduced enough for you to comfortably gulp down in one or two parts. Anywhere around 30 to 100 mL is sufficient.
10. Let the solution cool, preferably for at least six hours in a cool and shady place – this will allow the few remaining impurities to settle to the bottom of your vessel.
11. You now have a dose of Ayahuasca suitable for one person.