Everclear extractions

[Somni Divine]

I am wondering if it is possible to use everclear (grain alcohol) to extract anything, well, usable or of interest from poppy seeds, and if so, what is the recipe? :confused:

[Somni Divine]

Oh, and of course, what do you end up with???

[Dwale T. Brewer]

Somni,
Maybe you posted this in the wrong place. It seems to me a lot of the chemists around here would have used good old grain alcohol in many a concoction. I am surprised there aren't any answers.

[Peripat]

It's in the right place, alright. :) It's just that the chemists either haven't looked, or haven't had the time to answer.

[Somni Divine]

Well, I guess I lost that bet. Thanks for the info. Maybe the chemists just aren't interested. I'm just thinking if laudanum was as easy to make as Jim Hogshire says in his book, then there must be something similar, and legal that could be made with seeds. (but then, I guess Everclear isn't legal in all states, they sell it in the grocery store here).

[Nuke]

You can use everclear, you can even use 40% vodka, You end up with a sticky gum that is relatively dilute in Alkaloids because not only is the morphine soluble in but also an assortment of vaarious lipds . So it's kinda like very bad opium.

[Somni Divine]

Which would make the opium better - vodka or everclear? Say someone disolved two or three gigantheum pods in about four onces of alcohol, which would be better? I'm sorry I don't understand what you are saying about lipids, and from what I have read isn't this the recipe for laudanum? Or some sort of tincture? Are you saying that all of those concoctions are poor quality because of something to do with lipids?
Thank you Nuke, for your input - you were one of the folks that I was hoping might bother to answer. :)

[bogumil]

Even vodka alone is better than just water because the alcohol takes much more morphine in solution than water. But everclear is better because it is much cleaner than vodka. The only problem for me usually is that grain drinking ethanol is too expensive. I'd either mix it 30:70 with water or buy non-drinking alcohol, usually with 1%MEK or so. You can evaporate it off later and dissolve the putty in any drink of your choice. You can also after extracting add hot paraffin into the solution and shake. This helps you getting rid of the fats.
You can as well make a tincture with everclear (See the poppy recipes post in the papaver forum). But the ones who tried it all said that it isnt as nice as poppy tea.

Success!