kl.metacog
Kava Enthusiast
I was debating back and forth about doing an acetone extraction but decided against it because a) my roommates wouldn't appreciate the whole house smelling like nail polish remover b) I can't obtain the quality of acetone that I would feel comfortable with. An Isopropyl extraction however made it easy to obtain a solvent without impurities (alcohol + water) and it was cheap to boot! However, it did make the whole first floor smelling like rubbing alcohol, even with all the windows open and a fan going. CAUTION: SOLVENTS LIKE ALCOHOL/ACETONE ARE EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE AND THE FUMES CONSIDERED HARMFUL. KEEP YOUR WORK AREA OUTSIDE OR VERY, VERY WELL VENTILATED AND DISCOURAGE THE PRESENCE OF AN OPEN FLAME.
Also, I obtained the steps for the process from various cannabis/drug forums so the process is not my own in any way.
The usual culprits plus some newbies:
The first step was to combine the alcohol and root in the jar. I used a half cup root and poured in the Iso until the powder was submerged. I then furiously shook the thing for 2 minutes as suggested by the interwebs. This was then filtered using an ultra high tech filtering system (toilet paper and a funnel) into a lab-grade container (beer glass).
The result of which ten minutes later. . .
Now the fun part: As you can see the system is pretty simple. There's a saucepan on the bottom full of water, with a plate containing the solution on the top. The temperature of the steam heats the alcohol to a sufficient temperature to induce evaporation. I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS METHOD IF YOU HAVE A GAS STOVE. I used medium-high heat since full-high was too scary. As I stated earlier, the smell permeated the kitchen quite intensely. There's no way you can get away with doing this without the whole house knowing, unless maybe you have a bad ass hood over your stove.
Oh and sorry our kitchen is gross. We're college students.
About 7-10 minutes in:
20 minutes in. The lighter highlights of the dark spot are bubbles. Once these disappeared and there didn't seem to be any liquid left I pulled off the plate and allowed it to cool. I moved the plate around and upside down, but there wasn't any type of flow happening (which would've indicated there was still iso left) just gooey, gooey goodness.
Got out a razor blade and went to work. Verrrry sticky! Which is where I ran into an important problem: How to transfer it?! I really couldn't think of anything really but wax paper, so that's what I did. Definitely lost about 10-15% in the process trying to get this shit from the plate to the razor blade to the paper. If anybody has any ideas let me know!
Once I got it on the paper I threw it in the freezer so it'll be easier to work with. Should take a couple hours or so.
I might sample some tonight or tomorrow, not sure yet. I'll be sure to post the results.
Also, I obtained the steps for the process from various cannabis/drug forums so the process is not my own in any way.
The usual culprits plus some newbies:
The first step was to combine the alcohol and root in the jar. I used a half cup root and poured in the Iso until the powder was submerged. I then furiously shook the thing for 2 minutes as suggested by the interwebs. This was then filtered using an ultra high tech filtering system (toilet paper and a funnel) into a lab-grade container (beer glass).
The result of which ten minutes later. . .
Now the fun part: As you can see the system is pretty simple. There's a saucepan on the bottom full of water, with a plate containing the solution on the top. The temperature of the steam heats the alcohol to a sufficient temperature to induce evaporation. I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS METHOD IF YOU HAVE A GAS STOVE. I used medium-high heat since full-high was too scary. As I stated earlier, the smell permeated the kitchen quite intensely. There's no way you can get away with doing this without the whole house knowing, unless maybe you have a bad ass hood over your stove.
Oh and sorry our kitchen is gross. We're college students.
About 7-10 minutes in:
20 minutes in. The lighter highlights of the dark spot are bubbles. Once these disappeared and there didn't seem to be any liquid left I pulled off the plate and allowed it to cool. I moved the plate around and upside down, but there wasn't any type of flow happening (which would've indicated there was still iso left) just gooey, gooey goodness.
Got out a razor blade and went to work. Verrrry sticky! Which is where I ran into an important problem: How to transfer it?! I really couldn't think of anything really but wax paper, so that's what I did. Definitely lost about 10-15% in the process trying to get this shit from the plate to the razor blade to the paper. If anybody has any ideas let me know!
Once I got it on the paper I threw it in the freezer so it'll be easier to work with. Should take a couple hours or so.
I might sample some tonight or tomorrow, not sure yet. I'll be sure to post the results.
