What Does Each Reagent Actually Add?

Most people do not need nine reagents. They need one or two, and the rest is coverage they will never open. Each bottle answers a different question, so running two on one sample is not duplication. But it also means the right number for you depends only on how many different substances you test. Test one thing and a single kit runs 50 to 75 tests, which is more than a year for most people.

Here is what each reagent actually contributes, so you can buy the smallest set that answers your question.

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The screeners

Marquis is the one to buy if you buy only one. It reacts across the widest range of substances, which makes it the standard opening move and also means a Marquis result on its own rarely settles anything. It tells you which direction to look, then you confirm with something else. Full colour reference in how to read a Marquis reagent result, or buy it alone as the Marquis kit.

Mecke separates the methylenedioxy compounds from the amphetamine-type stimulants at a glance, a distinction Marquis blurs. If your question is “MDMA-class or something in the amphetamine family,” Mecke answers it faster than anything else. Colours in the Mecke colour chart, or the Mecke kit on its own. Note that Mecke is not in the DanceSafe MDMA kit, so it is a separate purchase.

The discriminators

These answer a specific question nothing else can. They are usually the reason to buy a second bottle.

Simon’s separates MDMA from MDA, and it is the most useful reagent in the MDMA kit. It comes in two parts, Simon’s A then Simon’s B on the same sample. Marquis cannot make this call because both compounds react similarly, and the distinction matters: MDA is stronger, longer, and harder on the body. See the Simon’s colour chart or the Simon’s kit.

Ehrlich detects indoles, which covers LSD, DMT and psilocybin as a class. Its most valuable result is a negative one. NBOMe compounds are not indoles and produce no reaction at all, so no colour change on blotter means it is not LSD. That single fact is the reason to own it. Two things to expect: Ehrlich is slow and can take up to 20 minutes to develop, and it confirms the indole class without separating members of it, so it cannot tell LSD from DMT, nor N,N-DMT from 5-MeO-DMT. Colours in the Ehrlich colour chart; it ships as the LSD kit.

Morris is the current ketamine reagent, also two-part, Morris A and Morris B used together on one sample. It ships as the ketamine kit. More in how to test ketamine.

Liebermann does the real work on 2C-B, where Marquis is close to uninformative, and it is useful on cocaine, which is the kit it ships inside. Colours in the Liebermann colour chart, or the Liebermann kit alone. See also how to test 2C-B.

The rest of the set

Froehde backs up a Marquis result and catches look-alike reactions. It sits in the MDMA kit for exactly that reason: screen with Marquis, discriminate with Simon’s, confirm with Froehde. See the Froehde colour chart or the Froehde kit.

Mandelin was historically the ketamine reagent, but DanceSafe now describes that reaction as inconsistent and prone to overlapping with other drugs, which is why Morris replaced it for that job. Plenty of older guidance online has not caught up. Mandelin still has uses, and its colours are in the Mandelin colour chart. One quirk: Mandelin going cloudy yellow within a few weeks is normal ageing, not a fault.

Folin rounds out the complete set and is the least reached for of the nine. It is the clearest example of a reagent most individual buyers will never open.

Two reagents is not one question asked twice

This is the thing people get wrong about kits. Running Marquis, then Simon’s, then Froehde on the same sample looks like belt-and-braces caution. It is three separate questions:

• Marquis narrows the class.
• Simon’s separates MDMA from MDA inside that class.
• Froehde confirms and catches look-alikes.

Each answer only makes sense on top of the last. The buying consequence is that one full workup consumes a test’s worth from three bottles at once, so a kit covers far fewer complete workups than the per-bottle number suggests. How many tests you get from one kit does the arithmetic.

And learn what a blank means, because sometimes nothing happening is the answer. No colour on Ehrlich with blotter is not a failed test, it is evidence.

So how many should you buy?

Be honest about what you actually test. That is the whole answer.

One substance: buy the kit matched to it and stop. The MDMA kit, cocaine kit, LSD kit and ketamine kit each bundle what that substance needs. Our test kit comparison lays out which is which.

Two or three substances: check whether the individual kits overlap before you buy a bundle. Marquis appears in more than one, so two kits can mean paying for Marquis twice.

Several classes, or supplying a group: the standard set of six or the complete set of nine starts making sense. This is the real use case for a bundle, and it is narrower than the product page suggests.

Whatever you buy, add fentanyl test strips separately. No reagent detects fentanyl at the doses that kill people. Strips are single-use, one per sample, so the one that ships inside a kit covers exactly one test. And remember which way round the result runs: one line is positive, two lines is negative.

The short version

Nine reagents exist because nine questions exist, not because you have nine questions. Buy for the substance in front of you and put the difference toward strips, which are the consumable you will actually run out of.

For the by-substance breakdown, see which test kit do I need. For reading any result, the reagent colour chart hub. For how long a bottle stays usable, do reagent test kits expire.