Recent scientific researches, including in humans, have supported and helped to understand what some Western (or First World) experienced users of ayahuasca tea have suspected since years: potentially huge differences do exist between individuals regarding the amount of B. caapi necessary to live a full-blown visionary experience when a fixed, regular quantity of DMT-containing plant is added.
That's why, besides the question of quality and cost, "kits" or "packs" with fixed quantities of ayahuasca vine, that generally are kept as low as possible, are avoided by these experienced connoisseurs.
For 85-90% of us, the optimal dose of B. caapi (var. cielo) per capita is somewhere in the 30-80 g range, 50 g being nice for the majority. Concerning P. viridis leaves, an optimal average dose is 40-50 g.
Traditional brews are always made in mixing the plants when starting the preparation. In Western settings, with costly dried plant material, one may look for a better yield: if there is absolutely no reason to acidify the water for the vine, the leaves, finely grinded, will undoubtedly have a better yield if soaked and cooked in acidified water (gentle organic acids are to be preferred: apple cider vinegar, malic acid, etc.). A separate preparation may thus be a convenient solution. Once the caapi vine tea is absorbed, it is not necessary to wait for effects or it may be too late: 15 mn are sufficient.
Feeling "MAOI" effects is probably a mistake (not feeling effects, but that they are due to MAO inhibition): what the abovementionned researches have shown is that, THH excepted (which is a poor MAOI), the other betacarbolines don't reach the general blood circulation. They undergo first pass metabolism in the liver and it is only or mainly their metabolites, also poor MAOIs, that are found in the blood. Furthermore a clear-cut MAOI effect on monoamine metabolites was not found. So waiting too long = harmine and harmaline are metabolised!
A last comment on additional doses in traditional settings: ayahuasqueros do indeed offer the possibility for people who have the desire to do so to drink a second or third dose during the course of a session but it is by no means something obligatory. As they tend to underdose first timers, it is not infrequent to see the only novice(s) present in a ceremony accepting the offer of a second dose!
