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It Was a Tradition
Nutmeg
Citation:   old dude. "It Was a Tradition: An Experience with Nutmeg (exp17568)". Erowid.org. Jun 15, 2005. erowid.org/exp/17568

 
DOSE:
3 tsp oral Nutmeg (ground / crushed)
BODY WEIGHT: 155 lb
I searched the internet and read every single nutmeg report that was written. While not everyone had unpleasant experiences, almost everyone mentioned nutmeg’s foul taste and the difficulty they had in imbibing the spice. Back in the late 1960’s and throughout most of the 1970’s, I along with eight companions “tripped” on nutmeg once per month. Sometimes it wasn't all nine of us but it was never less than seven. We did this from the autumn of 1968 to the autumn of 1979. We would sometimes skip a month for various reasons but we were pretty diligent about “nutmegging” because it was always very enjoyable and we knew how to do it in the correct manner. Here are some rules for preparation and the experience in general that I along with several of my old hippie buddies have come up with. Hopefully, this will help people to actually enjoy the nutmeg experience.

Note: There are some definite side-effects from ingesting nutmeg which include but are not limited to the following: cotton mouth, dry red eyes, lethargy, sexual stimulation (sometimes OVERstimulation), coordination problems, the munchies (seriously), etc.

Preparation:

1. Brew an entire pot of DECAFFEINATED coffee—it doesn’t matter how strong-flavored you make it—it’s a matter of preference.

2. Whilst the coffee is brewing, pulverize some nutmeg nuts (which I will simply call “nuts” from here on out) with a coffee grinder, food processor or similar device. When my friends and I started all of this, we used to pound the nuts into an oily paste with a sledgehammer but then one of us got a blender and made the process a whole lot easier. Just remember, though—blenders in the mid-70’s were a hell of a lot more powerful and sturdy than the ones today, so maybe a coffee grinder would be best. Everyone reacts differently to nutmeg and I’ve found that just because two peoples’ body weights/sizes are similar or the same doesn’t mean that their dosages of nutmeg would be the same. So here’s my advice: Start SMALL!!! Don’t be a retard! I read a report that recommended 1 g ground nutmeg per 10 lbs of body weight. This sounds about right but it may be more or less depending on the potency of the nuts.

3. Spoon out a reasonable starting dose of nutmeg (usually about 3 heaping teaspoons—NOT tablespoons) into the bottom of a coffee mug. Slowly pour your DECAFFEINATED coffee over the nutmeg powder until the cup is full of hot delicious coffee. The coffee will take on a more brown (as opposed to black) color and will have little granules of nutmeg floating about on the surface and most definitely sticking to the sides of the cup. Most of the nutmeg, however, will have sunken to the bottom of the cup. You should stir this mixture for about 1 and ½ minutes just so that there is nutmeg oil floating on top of the coffee along with some stray nutmeg granules.

4. Find a comfortable seat and sip your coffee (slurping the top layer is best, I’ve found—and it makes cool looking “oil-slicks” floating on the coffee that reflect different colors of light like a mud puddle with motor oil floating on top. Just trust me—it’s cool). You may notice right away that you cannot even taste the coffee because it will be overpowered by the nutmeg but this is not a bad thing. The nutmeg may make your tongue numb and really tastes pretty good when mixed with coffee. Trust me—there is no comparison between drinking this concoction and eating the nutmeg powder!

5. When you have drunk all of the coffee out of the cup that you can possibly drink without accidentally sucking down the nutmeg sludge in the bottom, it’s time to refill your cup. Pour another cup of coffee over the original nutmeg sludge and stir like you did before. There’s plenty of nutmeg oil left. When you have finished this cup, though, you should probably (it’s up to you) rinse out your cup and start from scratch by adding new nutmeg and new coffee. I did this every 2 cups that I drank.

6. All in all, you will have to drink about 10 cups of coffee (see why I stressed that you use DECAFFEINATED coffee?) [Erowid Note: Decaf coffee still contains some caffeine. See Caffeine Content of Beverages, Foods, & Medications.]

7. Drink PLENTY of water when you’ve finished all 10 cups. My rule was drinking a glass (about 12 oz.) every hour on the hour.

Some effects may be felt whilst drinking the first cup but these are just the first alerts. Following my instructions, I had cool trips. The effects of nutmeg vary from person to person by my old hippie friends and I have put our heads together and summarize the experience in the following way:

After you drink your 10 cups as described above, you may experience:

1:00—Maybe some alerts but nothing much. Frequent urination due to all that coffee!

2:00—Still probably nothing much.

3:00—Maybe slight loss of coordination. Maybe feeling a little mellow. Maybe nothing at all.

4:00—Probably at least feeling mellow. Colors may be slightly enhanced. You may be getting sleepy or feeling generally lethargic. Your mouth should probably be getting dry by now.

5:00—Definitely feeling mellow but effect is probably still pretty subtle. Your mouth will almost definitely be dry and your eyes may be getting a little bloodshot. Drink water!!!!

6:00—you should probably be feeling a little “stoned”. This effect is obviously similar to cannabis intoxication but not exactly the same. These effects will continue to increase over the next 3 or 4 hours and if you ingested enough nutmeg oil (and if you followed my recipe, this should be enough for most people), you will enter a state not unlike that when you are just about to fall asleep. You may hear voices, see vivid mental imagery, feel like you’re floating, and god knows what else.

By the time hour # 12 rolls around, you will either be sleeping peacefully or be enjoying yourself in a half-sleep trance. You will almost certainly be too uncoordinated to perform day-to-day functions like driving so don’t even try. However, you should still be drinking your water every time you think of it. Don’t be lazy—you’ll appreciate it later!!! Drink WATER!!!!

Gradually, you will get so tired that you’ll have no choice but to go to sleep. Chances are, you’ll have a great sleep of 10 or more hours. When you wake, you will probably feel like you’re still a little stoned but it should go away completely within the day. By the way, you may get the munchies on and off throughout the experience, starting at about hour 4 or 5. No one I know has ever gotten sick from indulging their nutmeg munchies so GO FOR IT!!!

Here are some closing thoughts on my experiences with nutmeg:

Nutmeg was a tradition that my very close friends and I will always hold dear. We always had very mellow and enjoyable experiences, sharing many aspects of each other’s trips like auditory hallucinations and visual phenomena. Pink Floyd was always our favorite nutmeg music and Welcome To The Machine is what we (all nine of us) consider to be the official nutmeg experience song. I must stress again that you should drink plenty of water before, during, and after the experience to avoid the HANGOVER FROM HELL (can last a week!!!). I have never experienced a hangover like this but a close friend (who drank 10 cups of regular--not decaffeinated--coffee with his nutmeg and did not drink copious amounts of water during the trip) sure the hell had a bad week! He did not get out of bed for 4 days and when he finally did, barely had enough strength to crawl around. He ended up losing his job because he missed a week of work.

Exp Year: 2002ExpID: 17568
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 15, 2005Views: 265,226
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Nutmeg (41) : Not Applicable (38), Hangover / Days After (46), Preparation / Recipes (30)

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Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


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