I love me some tincture.
I made mine from stem butts which allowed me to have a nice clean stash of buttless mushrooms (since I just cut the butts off, no fussing with cleaning them). I dried the butts same as I dried the mushrooms and stored them in a vacuum sealed cannister until I'd saved up a pound.
I then crushed the butts into little pieces but I did NOT powder them. Neither should you; powder requires a vacuum filtration rig or will take way too long to filter out. As small as you can crush them with your bare hands works well. Wear a respirator; shroom dust is nasty.
I divided the pile into three large glass jars (1/2 gallon each). I covered the dry fungi with Everclear (a brand of 95% pure grain alcohol), though from my reading I get the impression that a slightly weaker concentration may be more effective (~80% alcohol instead of 95%) but am not sure. I added enough Everclear to almost fill the jars and used new lids to ensure a good air-tight seal. I then added a tablespoon of pure citric acid crystals to each jar. This is key if you want to avoid body load and extend the shelf life to its maximum potential.
I stored them in a dark cabinet in my kitchen for a little over two months. Every time I thought about it I'd open the cabinet and shake the hell out of them (about 2-3 times a day).
After the long soak I filtered the fungi out (along with all the bits of vermiculite or straw or horseshit, depending). This is when you'll be glad you didn't powder them. I put the soaked fungi back in the jars, added more Everclear (~halfway full), shook the hell out of them one more time, and filtered again to get as much magic out as possible (the max seems to be around 80-85%).
I put all the beautiful gold-colored liquid in a big pot and reduced it on very low heat for a long time (boiling it off "burns" the alcohol making it taste like very harsh, badly-made moonshine so keep the heat low or use a vacuum rig if possible). Do that part outside. I reduced it until I had standardized doses where one 1.25 ounce "shot" was equivalent to about 3.75 grams of dry fungi.
So starting with ~454 grams of stem butts, assuming an 85% extraction gives me the equivalent of 385.9 dry grams in solution. Before reducing it, I put the jars in the freezer for a few days. This precipitated a lot of sugar crystals on the glass of the jars that stayed behind when I poured the extract into clean jars. I gathered the crystals and put them in my coffee.
I reduced the volume of extract to a little bit over one gallon, or about 130-135 ounces (I had used 6 quarts of Everclear to soak and filter it). I put the reduced extract back in the freezer again and more sugar precipitated out so I transferred the extract to new jars again. I then reduced it a little bit more until I hit exactly 128 ounces (one gallon). That left me with 102 shots at ~3.75 grams each. I would usually take half a shot, which was plenty for a mild or recreational mini-trip or if I was attending a public event and didn't want to be losin' it.
I stored it in Bacardi 151 bottles in my freezer since it was so strong alcohol-wise and happened to look just like 151, and because I'd removed most of the sugar it didn't form new crystals (which merely take up space in the extract better used by psilocybin and form an odd-looking sediment not normally seen in Bacardi 151 so it may attract undue attention). I made that extract so long ago that I don't exactly remember when it was anymore but I know it was at least 6 years and I just finished it a few weeks ago, and that included taking it to a few festivals to share with friends and taking a shot whenever I felt like it (I also eat a lot of my honey recipe which is why the extract lasted so long). It was still as potent at the end as it was when I first made it, and the citric acid not only helps preserve it, it also changes the nature of the experience by compressing it; just like with lime juice soaks, the acid makes all the magic hit the blood-brain barrier at once so the trip peaks faster and ends sooner (more like a spike than the usual gradual rise, plateau, then come-down) which makes it perfect for tripping in the evening when you got work or school the next day.
Incidentally, I think I used WAY too much Everclear. Shit's expensive, which is why I'm gathering copper for a reflux still. In any case, the way I did it worked a lot better than I expected so while I probably used too much alcohol, what I described will work (I could've bought all the pipe and fittings for a reflux still for the amount I spent on Everclear).
Good luck, and go for it; extracts are a pain in the ass to make but awesome to have.
Edited by TVCasualty, 22 June 2014 - 10:30 AM.
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