Echo

First, I used this recipe by the alchemist, Master Wu. I happen to be reading The Art of War so I have respect for this name.

The recipe seems to be the definitive one, though I made some variations. The most talked about substitution seems to be toasting the herb at 200 degrees for 20 minutes, rather than 325 at 5 minutes. I chose to use this variation. Also, as with everything related to this herb, I only use buds. There is a saying, “You never cook with wine you wouldn’t drink with a guest at the table.” The same, you should never cook with herb you wouldn’t happily smoke. Lastly, I use a manual metal magnetic grinder instead of a coffee grinder. I feel like too much is lost inside coffee grinders. A metal grinder is also easier to collect the crystals which accumulate from the grinding process. Lastly, I used this cute little tea infuser and a spoon over a small french press to filter the tincture once it is heated (don’t use the actual plunger of the press). The french press comes with a small spout that makes it ideal for collecting the tincture, then getting the tincture into the bottle without an additional funnel. It’s very much like making tea.

I made the tincture with 4 grams of high-grade medical (mostly Banana Kush and Super Sour Diesel with some leftover OG Kush shake thrown in. These are not the ideal strains I wanted to work with, but at the time, the best strains available). I’m supplied by a clinic I trust for purity and quality of the herb. I always blend indicas with sativas as too much sativa may cause anxiety and too much indica may cause drowsiness. Overall though, these side effects are negligible when plant is ingested. I used Everclear 151 as that’s the highest proof I could find. Grain alcohol is some bad stuff which I personally feel should be avoided, but for an initial experiment, I want to try what is already known. I followed the double boiler method and boiled the water first before placing in the jar containing the mixture, then adjusted the heat to maintain a range of 170-175 degrees for 20 minutes.

Taste

I put one dropper full in about 4 ounces of Diet Orange Soda. The Soda fizzles as the tincture disperses, and tiny flecks of green burst onto the surface. It’s actually very magical and pretty.
I can only describe tastes the way I perceive smells so in terms of taste, the top note was dominated by the artificial orange citrus taste of the soda, the carbonation is also a strong distraction in perceiving the incongruencies of the tastes.

The middle note is pleasantly herbal. Very strong, but not overpowering for anyone who has experienced strong, herbal teas.

Now, the base note, is a real motherfucker. That’s the bitter kick of the Everclear. Not so much the taste of alcohol, but of something chemical. It’s actually pleasantly fizzy and herbal before the base note surfaces. I would really like to find an equally effective way of making this tincture, without using grain alcohol, or high-proof alcohol.

Overall, it’s a complex taste that doesn’t taste great, but doesn’t taste as badly as you might fear.

Effects

(Note: Squeezing the dropper hard only fills the dropper halfway. I read that one dropper full is 1ml, but I don’t know if by “full” they mean a full squeeze which is only half, or a full dropper, which would require 2 full squeezes. I apologize, I’m wicked literal). I tried half a stopper and waited an hour–it gave me a nice clear opening of my mind and positive spirit. I felt relaxed but normal, not high like from smoking. I tried 2 stoppers full(so the equivalent of one stopper filled up) the next day. Maybe it’s because of the carbonation of the soda but I could feel it within 10 minutes (usually take a good hour before I feel brownies). It got me really calm and focused, and I was very functional and clear-headed. I felt very positive, relaxed, and completely in control of myself and my mind. I had great conversations with people and could go about my business normally, just in a place where I understood more the truth of interactions, felt deeper, positive and more grounded, and found that people also reacted very positively.

I’ve been experiencing a lot with different ways of intake. Most people are introduced with smoking, but I don’t think that’s the best method for this herb. With smoking, the experience is more intense. It kicks in faster and it kicks in hard, sometimes being an overwhelming switch that can make people feel anxiety, then dropping you off a cliff back into your own reality. I think that’s why most people need to smoke in safe, comfortable environments where they can control the setting. Many of my friends who tell me they got paranoid or that it’s too intense have usually had these experiences when they smoked it. Ingesting is a whole different ballgame. I’ve given these same friends brownies, and they had positive experiences. They felt good, and even if it got intense, they never felt out of control, and often, they had breakthrough insights, had feelings of self-awareness and unity, and felt more at peace with their place in life after the experience. I’ve found that brownies have especially helped my friends who had issues with need for control or anxiety, whether or not they were aware of it. The experience basically forces you to let go and flow with the river, as it’s not the herb that creates your anxiety, but you who creates it when you resist the flow. Once you let go and find the flow, you realize you are able to create your positive experiences. This understanding and feeling is one that you don’t forget once you experience it, and it translates into day to day lives. Basically, it teaches you how to relax.

After the experience of eating, people seem generally more relaxed about themselves and their lives. Or at least, they are given a new perspective with which to look at it, another tool which they can choose to use for self-actualization.

Overall, this tincture is a good method with positive effects. One of the reasons I wanted to experiment was because I want a method of ingestion that doesn’t involve food, something that is akin to the delivery method of herbal medicines from Chinese doctors. I would ultimately like to create an oil-based tincture that also combines other herbs, such as chamomile and lavender, to improve the taste and complement the effects.