The GREAT CAYENNE - thinks & thoughts...Re: The GREATNESS of Cayenne!

Regarding all the questions in this thread about Cayenne -- here's my thinks n' thoughts...

The first tincture I ever made was "Cayenne" - made with 100% raw habanero peppers.  At that time I had no idea that peppers increase in 'heat' when they're dried, so I naturally assumed that raw habbies would make THE hottest, most powerful healing tincture on the market (even hotter than Dr. Schulzes - and everyone knows his is THE hottest available :::grin::: NOT anymore).

At that time, neither of us were what you'd called "experienced" with the daily/consistent usage of cayenne, and I wanted to make sure what we'd made was what I thought it was.  So I sent samples to two of THE most knowledgeable, experienced 'cayenne users' I knew (both are "eagle" CZer, and both VERY knowledgeable).  The response from both was almost exactly the same (paraphrased):

"This is not the 'hottest' tincture I've ever had, but it has a 'synergy' that's very effective.  Although it doesn't 'burn as much', as I sit/stand and listen to and feel what's happening throughout my body, it seems to 'open up' more than it's hotter counterparts"

And now that we're more experienced, we basically agree with this.  See *** below

SO, here's what I know: 

--Tinctures made with raw Habaneros (or other hot peppers) will never be as "hot" as those made with the equivalent dried peppers.  Eating hot peppers that are fresh/raw has always yielded the same results (I'd rather eat a raw habbie than 2 or 3 dried African Bird Peppers...even one little dried African Bird Pepper well chewed can seriously set one's mouth aflame).  Yet as I've stated before, the raw Habanero has a HU rating of 250,000-350,000, and a raw African Bird Pepper has a HU of 100,000-150,000.

--The ONLY "cayenne" that Dr. Christopher ever used was that from African Bird Peppers, because at that time, it was the hottest pepper available to him.  I've never heard/read of him using them raw, only dried/powdered.

--I have used our Cayenne #1 (now 95% raw habbies, with 1/2 cup of our 'cayenne powder' added...which is 3/4 ABP & 1/4 Habanero...in a gallon jar) ...to both stop bleeding and to stop/prevent a "heart spell" (one which included radiating pain down the arm, another which involved strong heart pain and arrhythmia).  *I* know that Cayenne Tincture #1 is effective and hot enough to 'get the job done'...it's the one we use and the one I would reach for in the even of an emergency.  However, if I HAD a bottle of Cayenne #2 on my kitchen counter and someone was grasping their heart with a heart attack, I might grab for that instead.  It likely depends on if I thought they could 'get it in them'. 

--Cayenne #2 is made by filling a jar 1/3-1/2 with dried African Bird Peppers and using 1/2 100 proof vodka and 1/2 Cayenne Tincture #1 as the alcohol.  It has the best of both worlds...it has the 'synergy' and other benefits of the tincture made with raw peppers, but the added heat of more dried ABPs.

--*** Cayenne #3 is brutally hot...to most (and several people have said it has a wonderful flavor).  I've tried it twice...it's too hot for me (and Rocky)... and is made by filling a jar half to two-thirds of the way with 2/3 - 3/4 of African Bird Peppers (ground) and 1/3 - 1/4 of powdered Habanero powder.  *** This tincture seems to 'open the flow' as much as the Cayenne #1, but it also seems to have 'more of something' that I cannot define...like just the benefit of it being so MUCH hotter.  It definitely made my face red and brought on a bit of perspiration (which has never happened consistently with the other two).  BUT, I'm likely not EVER going to use this tincture consistently, or do 'taste/reaction' tests against the #1 & #2

I'd assume this would test 'scientifically' to be more effective.

What I believe:

--I believe that scientifically, the hotter the pepper/tincture/powder, the more 'effective' it is.  But there's a quality of using raw peppers that's not detectable/discernable in a test tube or petri dish...or measurable by anything but through discernment of our body and our 'doctor within'.  For some people, that's not 'comfortable assurance' of efficacy...hence the creation of Cayenne #3 (which was also made for folks that just 'like it hot').

--I suppose it's possible to build up a tolerance to the lower HU peppers, but I've never seen Dr. Schulze or Christopher mention anything like that. 

-- I don't think that acclimating to the 'burn' means that the cayenne is less effective, in any way.

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"Cayenne" IS an "umbrella term" for any hot pepper.  I've never read or heard of only 'true cayennes' being effective...and quite honestly, I've never found the "exact" pepper that could be classified as a "true cayenne".  If anybody has evidence that there's one particularly plant that is the ONLY "true cayenne", I'd sure be interested in seeing it.

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2 drops or 2 droppersful of the tincture?  Might as well go with the two droppersful! Hot is HOT...and (I love that swimming pool analogy!), one might as well just jump in and NOT torture oneself!  BUT, cayenne powder is a different story.  Because it takes quite awhile for the powder to exit the stomach and because it has a DIRECT action on peristalsis, more cayenne powder than what one is used to can cause cramping & diarrhea.  It won't hurt a thing, but it'll FEEL like it's hurting a lot of things.

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Healthiest of blessings -

Unyquity