The traditional primary method involves grinding large quantities of fresh leaves and infusing water to make salvia tea. The technique has the drawback of being less potent because the active ingredient of salvia is poorly absorbed in the stomach. It is also less attractive to use salvia because Salvia divinorum tea is highly bitter, and large quantities must be for you to feel the effects. The benefit of ingesting salvia you take orally is that the effects last longer than other methods.
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The other method of oral ingestion traditionally employed by the Mazatec is simply chewing and swallowing large quantities of leaves. It involves the same drawbacks and benefits as using tea. Still, it may be more potent since salvia’s psychoactive ingredient (Salvinorin-A) gets into the mucous membranes faster in the mouth than in the digestive tract.
Revolutionary Methods
Smoking
Smoking Salvia divinorum is a revolutionary development. The primary consideration when smoking is that a high temperature is required to vaporize the psychoactive chemical. Because of the difficulty in vaporizing salvinorin-A, large volumes of smoke need to be inhaled. The smoke must be held in the lungs for an extended period to maximize absorption. Smoking salvia in a cigarette is possible, and some people experience effects from this method, but the most effective manner for smoking salvia leaves is using a water pipe.
Smoking with a water pipe cools and condenses the smoke. It means that the smoke is less harsh and easier to inhale in a much larger quantity. The benefit of smoking as a method of ingesting is that the effects are more potent than other methods. When smoked, salvinorin-A is absorbed and metabolized quickly, so the hallucinogenic properties become apparent within moments of inhaling a few lungfuls of salvia smoke. The salvia effects brought about by smoking are more intense but do not last as long as the trip from oral ingestion. The downside to smoking, of course, is the irritation to the lungs from the harsh smoke.
The Tincture
Another revolutionary method of oral ingestion is through the use of a tincture. You manufacture tincture by extracting salvinorin-A into a solvent. The tincture is then taken by dropping it under the tongue and absorbing it into the bloodstream through the sub-lingual mucous membrane. The effects produced by consuming a salvia tincture vary depending on the potency of the particular tincture.
Differences in manufacturing processes and raw materials lead to tinctures that can produce mild effects as in traditional methods of use or intense hallucinatory states. They are similar to the effects of smoking salvia. Using a salvia tincture gives the user all of the benefits of using the herb orally, the extended duration of acute effects, without the drawbacks of unpleasant taste and mild psycho-activity.
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The Extract
The most popular method today, by far, is smoking Salvia divinorum extract. It happens to be the most widely available salvia for sale. As with tinctures, you get smokable extracts by isolating salvinorin-A from its leaves through solvents. However, manufacturing an extract involves creating pure salvinorin-A instead of delivering the final product in the solvent. Making the pure salvinorin-A smokable helps to fortify a small quantity of dried Salvia divinorum leaves. For example, a 20x extract might strengthen 5 grams of dried leaves with the pure salvinorin-A extracted from 100 grams of leaves, making those 5 grams 20 times more powerful.
Smoking the herb’s extract is superior for users seeking the most powerful experience and the most reliable method of ingestion. Section avoids the significant difficulty of smoking regular leaves: vaporizing enough salvinorin-a.
Overall
As a final note on Salvia divinorum methods of use, it’s important to remember the cultivation, handling, and extraction processes. They all contribute to the potency of any it obtained. That means finding a quality supplier can be as important a factor as the method of ingestion.