Three Way Philosophical Extract of Piper Nigrum: Fermentatio [Making an Alchemical medicine]
I began the process of completing a full Philosophical extract of Piper nigrum, black pepper, approximately two months ago in order to produce a powerful Alchemical tincture. Black pepper acts upon the nervous system as a depressant, but unlike other CNS depressants, like alcohol, black pepper acts doubly as a nootropic. I first began the process of producing this medicament with Distillatio, distillation of the volatile Sulfur. The next step in this process is Fermentatio, fermentation of the herb in order to receive the Mercury upon a subsequent distillation.
Working under the Spagyric school of Alchemy, the Mercury of the plant realm is ethyl-alcohol.
Philosophical Mercury is the carrier of the Universal Spirit. In the vegetable kingdom, each plant will create the same ethyl-alcohol at varying ratios when hermetically sealed away. This compound ties each of the species of plants together as a Universal Spirit.
In order to allow the Spirit to embody our work, a successful Fermentatio must be achieved.
Using the method I am following, after distilling off the volatile Sulfur the remaining pitch is now sterile. A specific microbe must be present for fermentation to begin, thus the addition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, brewer's yeast, is absolutely necessary. Depending upon which herb you are working with and the specific amount of fermentable sugars it possesses you may or may not have to add sugars. In working with Piper nigrum, the addition of fermentable sugars is required.
I used 24 oz of honey and one teaspoon of yeast for ~ 2500mL of liquid in this working.
Fermentatio begins immediately upon completing the distillation of the volatile Sulfur.
To reduce the possibility of contamination, the next step begins immediately upon completion of the first. Begin your fermentation by allowing your initial product to cool down to room temperature. Using an ice bath is one way to speed up the process of cooling down. The yeast will not be able to survive if the internal temperature of the remaining liquid is too hot.
Once the temperature has cooled down, you may add your fermentable sugars.
Slowly add your sugars while swirling the flask, or stirring if you have a wide enough neck on your flask. As soon as all of the sugars have been added be sure to swirl/stir for one-two minutes in order to oxygenate the mixture.
Add your yeast after the sugars have been thoroughly mixed in.
Not much yeast is needed because these microbes are able to procreate rapidly with optimal conditions. Optimal conditions being the sugars you added and the Goldilocks temperature. Add your yeast, and again give your mixture a solid one-two minute swirl/stir.
Now that the environment has been stabilized for the yeast, fermentation begins nearly instantly.
Yeast work best in anaerobic conditions, that is they don't much like to do their job in the presence of oxygen. But if we just put a stopper in the neck of the flask, the flask would over pressurize and explode making a big mess. Thus, a pressure lock is placed in the center of a cork and secured into the neck of the flask. The pressure lock is a device which allows the CO2 to build up but not over pressurize. By adding a little oil or water (I use soapy water to reduce risk of contamination) to the bottom loop, the pressure builds up and releases as it pushes the liquid into the larger bulb and reseals to keep an equilibrium of pressure of CO2. A cotton ball is added to the funnel opening of the pressure lock to further reduce risk of contamination.
Fermentation creates three products.
The process of fermentation is exothermic and thus releases heat as a product. As previously mentioned, the yeast are anaerobes, and they produce CO2 as a product. Lastly, fermentation allows us to subsequently receive our Mercury, allowing the Spirit to embody the work.
In the following video, the entire process I described involving the actual act of fermentation is displayed and once again explained.
This fermentation began on 28March18 and was completed on 26May18.
I have been working on the distillation of the Mercury from the ferment, but I'll be taking my time. Be on the look out for the following processes.
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