We received the Parrot's Beak for the Best Herbal Smoking Blend today. We mixed equal parts of skullcap, indian warrior, and parrot's beak. The result was similar to just the skullcap and indian warrior, with a little more pronounced effect. I have still been doing research, and we are going to take another step back and do something that I have uncovered in my research. It involves soaking the ingredients and taking the liquid from the soaking (extract), pouring that over mullein leaf and letting it dry. This gets all the goodies out of the ingredients and places them in the mullein leaf, then you smoke that. After we have had some success with this method I will post exactly what we did to get there.

The Next Ingredient - Parrot's Beak

We've chosen another member of the pedicularis family, Parrot's Beak (Pedicularis racemosa), as our next ingredient for the Best Herbal Smoking Blend. Plants in the pedicularis family are also known as louseworts, because of the belief that ingesting them can cure an infestation of louse. They are used medicinally as a muscle relaxant and sedative. The flowers of the plant are a bright orange, and the petals are shaped like parrot's beaks. In some societies the leaves and buds are smoked or made into a tea. We've ordered some Parrot's Beak, so stay tuned - we'll post when it arrives.

We received the Indian Warrior yesterday. It has a dark color, and the dried flowers are a deep purple. It has no noticeable odor. We mixed equal portions of skullcap and Indian Warrior and tried it. The skullcap, when smoked by itself, has a harsh flavor - the Indian Warrior completely smoothed out the harshness. A very mellow smoke. The results were promising, with a calm, relaxing feeling that lasted for quite a while. But we are still not where we need to be yet, so we will continue researching our next ingredient. So stay tuned, we will post when we decide on the next ingredient.

Just a quick update to let you know that we are still waiting on the Indian Warrior. Meanwhile, we're hard at work researching our next ingredient. We'll let you know as soon as the Indian Warrior arrives.

We could not find the Indian Warrior locally, so we are ordering it online. Bouncing Bear Botanicals is sold out presently, and Azuregreen does not carry it, so we had to locate another source. We located some at KT Botanicals (be sure and get the buds, you can grind them in a coffee grinder or good blender). So we have the Indian Warrior. We will let you know the results as soon as we receive it.

Indian Warrior - The Next Ingredient

Our next ingredient for this mix is Indian Warrior (Pedicularis Densiflora). There are several varieties of (Pedicularis), one being called Elephant's Head. My research has shown that Indian Warrior has a more pronounced effect than Elephant's Head. Indian Warrior is often used as a skeletal muscle relaxant and sedative. It was used in smoking mixtures by at least one Native American tribe. So we have decided on the Indian Warrior. It is about the same price as Elephant's Head, but should produce a more pronounced effect. We found from making our first mix that it is best to add the ingredients one at a time, so we will be adding this and trying it next. We'll keep you posted, so check back soon.

Taking a Step Back

After taking a step back and doing some more research, we have decided to start over with our mix. We are up to six ingredients, and we are still not where we want to be with the present mix. One of the problems that we have is that the mullein leaf is like fine hair , clumps up, and will not mix with the other ingredients. If you recall, the mullein leaf is supposed to be the base for the mixture, so this is not a good thing. After some research, I found that skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) is often used as a base. We found some locally, and it is a has crushed leaves that has a tobacco look to it, except that it is bright green, even after being dried. If you recall, skullcap was added to our previous mix, and is supposed to have a relaxing, calming effect. There is a good article about skullcap here. I will continue our reasearch and we will keep you posted on our next ingredient, so check back soon.