since i'm in no hurry,
i've decided to go the crockpot route.
so, i started out with 31.5g of cielo caapi from <font color="119911">maya ethnobotanicals</font>

reduced this to powder with a nutmeg grater,

hammered the larger pieces before putting them in a coffee mill,

which left me with 28.6g of powdered vine.
i then poured 500ml of distilled h<sub>2</sub>o mixed with 25ml of clear malt vinegar into a crockpot
and set the temperature switch to 'low'.
i picked this one up from my local charity shop for £8 ($15).

the waters' temperature reached a max. 78°c in about an hour.
i added the powdered caapi evenly and replaced the lid on the crockpot.

not being sure how quickly the brew would evaporate
i checked on it several times and,
24hrs. later, decided to do the first filtering,
using a double layer of cheesecloth.
this brew had reduced by exactly a half, giving me 250ml.

i returned the vine matter to the crockpot,
stirred in a further 500ml h<sub>2</sub>o w/ 25ml clear malt vinegar
and replaced the lid.
i will leave the brew for a further 24hrs. before filtering for the second time.
this should leave me with approx. 500ml of brew in total.
now, i have a few questions:
1) are my liquid proportions correct for the crockpot method?
2) should i have pre-heated the h<sub>2</sub>o/vinegar for the second brewing, before adding the vine matter
or does it not make much difference?
3) how much sediment is desirable in a brew, as the cheesecloth has removed practically all of it
and i'm not sure if this is a good thing or not?
4) should i do a third brew and,
5) which method should i use to reduce down the final mix?
any input greatly appreciated.
