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Post by realnicemark on Nov 19, 2007 1:31:12 GMT -5
So I'm blending my liquor in my Blend-tec blender (I'm too cheap to get a Champion, and the Blend-tec seems to be working passably, at least for my "artisan" (i.e. rustic) interests)... and the liquor is heating way, *way* up (see additional thread under "equipment" - "How hot is too hot?"). I take the lid off the container to check the liquification now and then... after a few minutes of this when I lift the lid to peek in I'm met with a whallop of chocolate-flavored steam/smoke that after several iterations has me feeling slightly altered, even after removing myself from the smoking liquor - not hallucinating, nor euphoric (the truth is that I've not enough experience with drugs, even caffeine, to know what words to use), but certainly dizzy, light-headed, and slightly invincible.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it vaporized caffeine? Is this the famed "slightly hallucinogenic qualities of cacao?
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Post by joyojoy on Nov 20, 2007 22:29:16 GMT -5
Gee mark... are you saying you can't hold your liquor? (nyuk! nyuk!) Actually, chocolate doesn't contain any caffeine: it contains a close cousin called theobromine, which is actually healthier for you, and a more gentle, sensual stimulant than caffeine (there's a terrific web page which tells all the wonderful qualities of theobromine at www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm). So maybe what you experienced was a nice theobromine rush. I haven't had the pleasure of processing liquor yet myself, but you may have given me an incentive to give it a try...
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Post by Sebastian on Nov 21, 2007 15:18:58 GMT -5
Cocoa solids do contain some caffeine, however not nearly as much as most people believe. On average, for a natural liquor, some 780 ppm - compared with the over 12,000 ppm of theobromine, it's paltry indeed, but still present. In order for you to volatilize the theobromine, you'd have to be getting your material VERY hot, hotter than you probably can make it at home. There are also components that bind to the same receptors in your brain that THC does, but to get a high of of them you'd need approximately 27lbs of chocolate...you're probably just really enjoying yourself and having a good ol' time!
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Post by sugaralchemy on Nov 25, 2007 22:35:59 GMT -5
The only psychoactives present in chocolate of which I have any solid data on are caffeine and theobromine. They are both present at fairly low levels and require immense heat to vaporize - more than enough heat to severely burn the rest of the chocolate. Alternatively, they may be aerosolized (at least caffeine, though perhaps not theobromine), but due to the low levels, you'd end up choking on micronized cocoa powder before you "feel" any effects.
I suspect that you're just having a good time, perhaps even enjoying the aroma, but I doubt there's anything psychoactive happening. If you want to feel something, try eating a good few ounces or more of solid cacao and wait a good while - you will be able to feel the theobromine and caffeine pretty nicely, especially if you don't normally drink a lot of coffee.
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