Yesterday I described the procedure I followed to roast kratom. Today I will describe the bioassay results.

For those who just want a very short synopsis, here it is: DON’T BOTHER ROASTING KRATOM!

For those who are curious as to what happened, read on:

PREPARATION OF THE DRINK
One level tablespoon of the roasted kratom was placed in 2 cups of water along with a measure of ground coffee (a bit more than a tablespoon of ground coffee), 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, and 1 cinnamon stick.

This mixture was boiled for 15 minutes, at first on a high heat setting, and then when it was boiling vigorously the heat was turned down to low.

The brew was filtered through a fine mesh coffee filter and the sludge that collected in the filter was thrown out. The brew was sweetened with Splenda®

TASTE/ AROMA: Not great but I’ve suffered through worse coffee in some restaurants. The drink had a burnt coffee/cinnamon/chocolate flavor. Despite the sweetener it was very bitter, and the bitter taste lingered long after the drink had been swallowed.

EFFECTS: I seem to have inadvertently discovered a way to take the enjoyment out of kratom!

The drink was not taken on an empty stomach; I had a bowl of oatmeal before drinking it (that was my breakfast). The drink initially produced a very smooth mild stimulation. This came on about an hour or two after taking the drink; its onset was gradual. The delayed onset might have been because there was food in my stomach. The stimulation was not pleasant or unpleasant, it was less than I usually experience from kratom. I believe at least some of the stimulation was from the coffee and not from the kratom, however, it was less energetic than the stimulation from coffee usually is. When the caffeine effect had apparently worn off there was a lingering feeling of sedation without any euphoria. This continued for many hours. It was more a feeling of mild fatigue than anything else. I suspect that if I tried to I could easily have fallen asleep. Perhaps there was some minimal analgesia, but I’m not sure.

COMMENT: Neither the taste, nor the effects, were worth repeating.

While not lacking all pharmacologic activity, the effect was qualitatively different from what I expected from kratom. Perhaps some of the alkaloids were either inactivated or changed to more sedating but less euphoric alkaloids by the roasting process. It is also likely that the 15 minute boiling did not extract much of the alkaloid content of the leaves.

I have no idea whether roasted kratom would alleviate the symptoms of opiate withdrawal,as unroasted kratom has been claimed to do, but roasted kratom appears to me to likely have less abuse potential than unroasted kratom does, in that there was no pleasure associated with its effect. I doubt that many people would want to try it twice. I wouldn’t.

© 2007 Walt