Ayahuasca Brew, Ayahuasca Tea Preparation, Ayahuasca Recipe Tea

Ayahuasca tea is a combination of different plants. It is not just one plant, like the San Pedro recipe, which is the cactus by itself, with nothing else mixed in. Ayahuasca brew is a more complicated tea recipe, and brewing and preparation takes much time and patience.

The shamans usually need an entire day to prepare Ayahuasca tea medicine. They might need to continue into the night depending on how long they decide to brew the Ayahuasca recipe. It is brewed in a large pot over an open fire, with prayer and intention, which is another important ingredient. This is divine medicine, after all, that is meant for healing and transformation. Sometimes the ingredients are prepared separately in different pots and then mixed together later. It depends on the shaman and how he or she prefers to prepare the Ayahuasca recipe.

Ingredients of Ayahuasca Recipe:

Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi)

This is the actual vine that is the core part of the Ayahuasca tea, which is the actual medicine, while the additional ingredients which are the DMT containing parts of the brew, are considered “helpers.”  Some shamans say that the truly powerful Ayahuasca tea is made from the very old vines that grow deep in the jungle and are very hard to get to, since there are no roads where these types of vines are.

Shamans say that these old vines have the most power. The old grandfather vines are as big as 6-10 inches in diameter, but you will see most often the vines  used are about 3-5 inches wide in diameter. These too have quite potent medicine, so it is not absolutely necessary to have the old grandfather vines in order to create powerful medicine. The different types of Ayahuasca vines are yellow (heaven, “cielo”) or black (thunder, “trueno”) Ayahuasca vine, and the black is considered the most potent, but some people don’t notice the difference.

chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Also known as mimosa hostilis, these are fresh leaves, finely shredded.

oco yagé (Diplopterys  cabrerana=Banisteriopsis rusbyana*)
Also known as chagropanga, huambisa, chaliponga, these too are leaves, ground into a powder.