Nutmeg - Myristica Fragrans

[hunahpu]

This thread is in response to a recipe request I received following a trip report in Psychonautica #53

Nutmeg is legal everywhere and found in most kitchens (though freshly ground whole nutmeg is to be preferred to the powdered kind most commonly used). Despite being used medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years in its native Indonesia and since at least Roman times in the West, it has somehow slipped into obscurity and has acquired some negative reputation due to its use in prison populations, as popularized in the autobiography of Malcolm X.

From my research I found that most trip reports and information on the internet perpetuate this "dirty" drug image, in stark contrast to the actual history of its recreational and celebratory use in holiday confections and beverages such as eggnog. While like most substances there are some real health cautions to be aware of and it will become toxic if abused, it is not inherently a dirty or accidental high.

I would recommend anyone interested in nutmeg should research it further and experiment in small doses to gauge their reaction to it before attempting a heroic dose, as I have read many scary reports of unpleasant experiences with it. Nutmeg can last up to 36 hours, which in my experience can be a very good thing, but in many other reports I've read can be a horrifying realization if you OD or if your body reacts unexpectedly.

In my first attempt I ground about 3 nutmeg for an entire batch of cookies (following a standard recipe on commercial chocolate chips such as nestle) and added it to the butter/egg/vanilla batter before mixing with flour and salt. I only consumed one or two large cookies, and it sill had a profound effect. For other recipes Pagan Christmas by Christian Raetsch includes some nutmeg recipes, amongst many other Christmas concoctions.

[cereus]

I have some experiences with nutmeg, but it was a long time ago. The taste is over powering and foul in effective doses, although I have newer baked with high doses, my method of ingestion was not the best I guess as I mixed it with some kind of juice, I still remember the taste. I use this spice in many types of food from cookies to dinners and also in some drinks, in Small amounts it has a great taste but when ingesting for the high it has a very nasty taste, and if I remember correctly the taste lingered for a long time.
Now the high was good the first time I tried it a kind of drunk/stoned strange high, but the effect seamed to be almost impossible to revisit, and the last time I tried it, it gave me a headache and a feeling of being hungover and after that the effort did not seem worth the high.

But there is something interesting about nutmeg, If you read about the chemical TMA in Shulgin's book PIHKAL you will notice that nutmeg contains some precursors to at least tree different psychoactive amphetamines. Shulgin says that myristicine (oil of nutmeg) is shown to be converted to MMDA (3-methoxsy-4,5-methylenedioxy-amphetamine) by the addition of an ammonia molecule in the liver. so perhaps it is possible to make an oil extraction of nutmeg and to convert it to an more potent psychoactive preparation with a few simple steps. I do not know how but it seems that you could do a "stone-age" reaction by adding a food safe ammonia source and let it react with the oil for some time, and then nibble the resulting brew.

good luck with your experiments and be careful, some essential oils is harmful in large doses.

[hunahpu]

In my experience and in the historical literature and extant nutmeg recipes an effective dose of nutmeg in beverages or in foods can be achieved without any unpleasant taste at all. Like cinnamon and most other spices it can be unpleasant or indigestible to eat raw, but is quite tasty when mixed with other foods or liquids.

My hunch is that if it tastes bad, you are using too much or preparing it improperly. My cookies tasted great and were still quite potent. I am familiar with Shulgin's hypothesis that it would convert to MMDA, which I read was later confirmed, but I don't think it is necessary to perform alchemical extractions on it, just work on your baking skills and don't bite off more than you can chew. A little nutmeg can go a long way.

[eschatonic]

Does baking with it make it more potent than eating it fresh like cannabis?
I have only tried Nutmeg once. I ate two freshly ground nutmegs and felt no effects negative or positive. I cant imagine the dose that would fit into a cookie doing anything unless something in the baking is making it more easily absorbed into the system or converting the chemicals into something else.

[hunahpu]

Hmmm... I am surprised to find two whole ground nutmeg had no effect. Although nutmeg potency does vary somewhat, I have never heard of no effect from such a large dose. I use considerably less per person in beverages, foods, and in cigarettes and still have a real effect.

I think mixing nutmeg with butter/alcohol is a more effective strategy than eating raw powder for several reasons, primarily taste, but mixing it aids in activating the nutmeg before ingestion. If you look at the history of nutmeg, people have been getting off on it for over thousands of years, and mixing it with alcohol as in shredded nutmeg garnishes for liqueur, nutmeg in hot coffee, eggnog, confections, etc.

The problem is that most modern cookbooks tend to shy away from recipes that will put you in a blissful stupor, so they usually call for only a pinch of nutmeg, where older recipes might call for a dozen.

But to wrap up, nutmeg is a real drug, not a last resort substitution. I think you are right that like in baking with cannabis, potentiation with soluble fats/alcohol is important, although I have never tried it raw, as spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are difficult to get down raw, and not particularly fun.

[cereus]

do post a recipe for an active nutmeg Cookie, I am wiling to do an experiment to see if it can be that the raw nut is less active than the cooked/prepared nut. But in my experience it takes allot to get any effect and as nutmeg have a taste that easily overpowers any other food I have a slight doubt that an psychoactive dose will taste good. that said I love foods that has the right amount of nutmeg for taste, spice cakes, stews and Arabian coffee. if I can bake active goodies that taste agreeable I will be immensely happy. and It might be a great addition to the canna cookies.

[DrBarton]

In my first attempt I ground about 3 nutmeg for an entire batch of cookies (following a standard recipe on commercial chocolate chips such as nestle) and added it to the butter/egg/vanilla batter before mixing with flour and salt. I only consumed one or two large cookies, and it sill had a profound effect. For other recipes Pagan Christmas by Christian Raetsch includes some nutmeg recipes, amongst many other Christmas concoctions.

Hunahpu,

I suspect that some of the success of your method may be your use of the butter/margarine. Like Vitamin A, many chemicals are only sparingly soluble in water. Thus, if eaten plain, they tend to pass right through the digestive system. On the other hand, if mixed with fats or oils, they are much more readily absorbed by the body. It may be that the actives in nutmeg are much more available to the body when ingested with butter than injested dry.

[cereus]

I must admit that I recently tried a homemade nutmeg tincture, it actually tasted quite good. but despite the relative small amount I consumed I got a rater trying hangover, but I had very lucid dreams that night.

I ground up two "fresh" nuts soaked them in hi grade alcohol and also added some horn salt(ammonia) in an attempt to "phenetylamin'nise" the nutmeg extract. I used an Small pipette to dose out the tincture.

The taste was agreeable so I guess it would be possible to make an good nutmeg schnapps/bitter,
The effect: pure tincture: numbing in the mouth and throat, I guess its usable as a homemade cough syrup.
tincture in tea: nice taste, no discernible effect in Small doses (one pipette) until ca tree hours and then only subtle effects but it lasts a long time so subsequent doses builds up even when dosed during the next days. so it is not advisable to use over several days as a medicine.

I used it during tree days with one to two pipet's of the extract in my tea cup, it did not seem to have much effect at first but it gradually built to something like a tired slight drunken feeling not very pleasant. The last dose of the experiment was taken right before bed time the tired day and it obviously started its effect about tree hours later. I seamed to be awaken by a visual explosion and there after I had very vivid dreams and awoke hardly rested at all. the rest of that day I was very tired and some what hung over.

I guess nutmeg has very limited use and attraction, it is not something I would recommend for more than one experiment.
;)