Magic Mushroom Edibles

There is an ancient alchemy that exists between mushrooms and cacao. Both have been used in ancient healing traditions, and both have sacred and divine connotations. And their names reflect it: Cacao, Food of the Gods, and mushrooms, Flesh of the Gods.

The Aztecs held cacao in the highest esteem and a bitter beverage was commonly made from the plant for use in ritual and religious ceremony.

The Nahuatl language offers insight into other sacred foods that were used in ceremony, such as the teonanacatl mushroom, which translates to “flesh of the gods.” A fungus of divine status, the teonanacatl mushroom refers to Psilocybe mexicana, a psychedelic mushroom also found native to Mesoamerica. It is well documented that these consciousness-expanding mushrooms were consumed together with cacao in ritual. The food of the gods nourishing the divine communion with the flesh of the gods.

Study of these ancient Mesoamerican cultures reveals that cacao has an established history of being consumed in combination with other ritualistic foods, especially psychoactive plants and fungi. In magic mushroom ceremonies, the Aztecs would combine teonanacatl with cacao to be served as a mushroom-cacao mixed beverage. In other cases, the mushrooms were eaten alone and followed by cacao drinks in order to further heighten the psychoactive effects.

It was thought that the qualities found in cacao potentiate and guide the spirit of the mushroom experience. The synergistic effects of cacao and mushrooms have become a classic pairing, thousands of years old.

0.05g – 0.1g – Microdose.
Unless you have the most sensitive scales in the world, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to weigh out less than 0.05g magic mushrooms. This is a good microdose starting point for those who are just experimenting. Completely sub-perceptual effects with very little chance of tipping over into a tripping state.

At this dose, you might perceive:

- Heightened creativity
- Increased energy, focus, and attention
- Increased mood, restfulness, peacefulness, calm
- Better memory and cognitive performance
- Increased physical and emotional comfort

0.1g – 0.2g – Medium microdose.
Yes. An amount this small makes a difference when it comes to microdosing. Even the tiniest increments can bring on more pronounced effects. This is still considered a microdose event and isn’t likely to cause serious tripping.

At this dose, you might perceive:

- Heightened creativity and mental activity
- Increased focus, attention, and pattern recognition
- Improved mood, heightened perception of the mind and emotions
- Quick mental performance
- Improved physical performance

0.2g – 0.3g – Strong microdose.
This could easily turn into a light tripping experience and so it’s not typically recommended as a microdose. However, it’s low enough to not be full on tripping for most people, and so for seasoned microdosers it could be considered.

At this dose, you might perceive:

-Altered visual and physical perception
- Heightened attention to detail
- Increased mental dexterity and problem solving
- Improved mood, energy, and increased perception of thoughts and emotions
- Abstract thoughts

0.3g – 0.5g – Minidose.
This is a very safe place to start for beginners. At this dose, visual perception becomes noticeably different and the world might start to become “trippy”.
Thoughts can become introspective and existential, or deep abstract concepts can be entertained. At the same time, this is not the kind of journey that leads to ego death or a loss of motor control.

At this dose, you might perceive:

- Mild euphoria or excitement
- Changes in visual perception (lights, vivid colours, movements)
- Changes in the way things sound and feel physically
- Heightened physical senses
- Mundane tasks suddenly become more engaging and exciting
- The arts are highly engaging, especially music and visual art
- A preference for introspection over social activity
- A desire to stretch or flow
- Increased creativity, mental acuity and pattern recognition

0.5g – 1.5g – Museum dose.
As the dose gets stronger, the effects all become more prominent. Dr Alexander Shulgin coined this dose the “museum” dose because although the psilocybin landscape is much more apparent, you can still do public or social activities like go to a museum without attracting too much unwanted attention.

At this dose, you might perceive:

- Increased visual effects (“breathing” in the environment)
- Alterations to sound, time and space perception
- Heightened physical sensations
- Confusion, anxiety, fear
- Desire to converse or talk, or alternatively a preference not to talk
- Abstract thoughts
- Increased sensitivity to light and sound
- Frustration at the “no man’s land” concept of mushroom dosage, where you tinker on the edge of a full blown psychedelic experience

1.5g – 3g – Moderate dose.
Welcome to the psilocybin psychedelic experience. It’s from here that many of the mysteries, discomforts, and epiphanies of the netherworld can take place. In these states, people can have religious experiences, terrifying experiences, or deep healing experiences. Sometimes, it’s all three.

The thing is — it’s very difficult to describe the psychedelic experience. Yes, there’s the breathing buildings and stuff. But it’s important to remember that it’s never that every time. The psychedelic is all together physical, emotional, and mental. Sometimes it manifests as heavily physical, other times completely mental, and at other times it’s emotional without the super vivid visuals.

It is different every single time.

At this dose, you might perceive:

- Altered visual perception
- Loss of fine motor control
- Desire to engage in philosophical, religious, or existential thoughts
- Desire to disengage socially
- Fear or anxiety (bad trip experiences)
- Confusion
- Excitement, joy, euphoria
- Deep emotional healing experiences, memory retrieval
- Repeated yawning
- Desire to move the body or stretch
- Increased appreciation for music, physical touch, the arts
- Difficulty with everyday tasks like tying shoe laces and operating mobile phones
- Nausea, dizziness, sleepiness

PREPARATION:

Pre-made magic mushroom chocolate bars typically don't require any preparation.

Anything that isn’t consumed right away should be refrigerated. Be sure to label it so that nobody accidentally doses themselves.

DOSES BEST USED FOR:

0-0.25g: A microdose; very subtle psychedelic effects; may experience mood enhancement, reduced anxiety, improved mental alertness and improve energy levels.

0.25-0.5g: A step up; more pronounced psychedelic effects; may experience altered coordination and motor control, altered vision and mood, increased energy, the giggles, revelatory thoughts, ideas, and pattern recognition.

0.5-1g: A psychoactive experience; pronounced and obvious psychedelic effects; may experience altered vision, emotions, and mood, could be a significant alteration of motor control, impaired coordination, super-human-music-making abilities, absurd humour, and a desire to engage oneself in artistic endeavours.

1g+: Everything above 1g is a bonafide psychedelic experience. 7g is Terrence Mckenna’s heroic dose. From here on in, anything is possible.

Note: Doses and effects vary from person to person. If you have never used mushrooms before, it’s best to start on the smallest dose possible for the desired effect and slowly increase from there.

3g – 5g – Macrodose.
At this dose, everything that has already been mentioned may occur but with increased potency, intensity and vigour. In addition, you may perceive:

-Intense visuals with eyes closed
- A desire to remain still, lying down, or motionless
- Dissociation from the physical body
- Synesthesia
- Deep healing, memory retrieval, what feels like self-guided psychotherapy
- Complete loss of the sense of time
- Disorientation, confusion, fear or anxiety in the event of a bad experience
- Loss of motor control (recommended to have friends around)
- Nausea, vomiting, dizziness

5g – 7g – Megadose.
Increase in the intensity of all effects. You may also perceive:

- Complete ego death
- A “catatonic” state whereby there’s no desire to move nor much of a response to the physical world
- A state of existence that feels like dreaming
- Complete removal and disinterest in the physical world
- Inability to control any stream of thought or logic
- Anxiety, paranoia, terror in the event of a bad trip experience

Heroic dosing – 7g+.
If a mushroom user ever gets to this stage, it’s after years of experimentation. Terrence McKenna coined 7g the “heroic dose”. There is no real knowing how far the experience goes or whether there is a limit to what can be achieved on a dose of mushrooms. Terrence McKenna obviously believed the only limit was the dose.

Not all heroic doses end in the sense of heroism. An experience so impactful can be terrifying to the point of trauma which is why it’s not recommended without a lot of experience or even supervision.

At the heroic dose, you might perceive:

- Nothing at all (a sense of nothingness)
- Inability to differentiate between a thought or object or physical sensations, complete dissolution of boundaries
- Loss of identity
- New dimensions, parallel realities, alternate universes, aliens

There are lots of different mushroom tea recipes online, but I like to keep it simple. I’ve followed the recipe below many times with great results and no loss of potency as far as I can tell. In fact, the majority of my survey respondents also reported a similar method with some minor alterations.

SIMPLE SHROOM TEA RECIPE

1. Weigh out the dose of mushrooms. If you don’t have a scale, please get one! There’s nothing worse than taking fewer shrooms or more shrooms than you meant to, only to find out a couple hours in.

2. Grind mushrooms into a powder. You can use a cannabis grinder or coffee grinder for this.

3. Chop up some ginger and add to mushroom powder

4. Pour hot water over mushrooms and ginger (and optional tea bag)

5. Let sit for 10-15 mins

6. Add honey to taste and enjoy!

Optional if nausea is your main concern: Strain out mushroom bits with a strainer and only consume the tea.

In the end, making your magic mushrooms into a tea can slightly alter the experience and make consumption a little easier on your taste buds and digestive system, but be prepared for it to come on a little faster and possibly stronger than eating raw mushrooms. And remember, for the safest psilocybin mushroom journeys, always take safe use practices into consideration like we outline in our guide to taking shrooms. Enjoy and safe travels!

Mushroom tea is an infusion of mushrooms in water, made by using edible/medicinal mushrooms (such as lingzhi mushroom) or psychedelic mushrooms (such as Psilocybe cubensis). Edible mushrooms always have low levels of calories.

Another downside to chewing and swallowing dried mushrooms is the taste. To many, it’s not the most pleasant experience in the world and it can be hard to get down without gagging. But to side step this, many folks make their shrooms into a tea and add other tea bags to mask the earthy mushroom taste.

While I recommend adding ginger and honey for taste and digestion in Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion, many of my survey participants are taking mushroom tea fusions to new flavorful levels by adding things like hibiscus and licorice root. Popular household favorites also include green or chamomile tea bags, and many folks reported adding lemon, lemon peel, a splash of orange juice, or other citrus for both the taste and the extra kick. A 65-year-old who filled out the survey and has taken mushroom tea “hundreds of times” reported they mix mushrooms with “Berry Red Zinger” tea bags and “never had anyone dislike the taste.”

Aside from making shrooms easier to digest, many of my survey participants reported they also enjoy the ritual of making their mushrooms into a tea. The process of breaking up their shrooms and brewing them has become its own ceremony to many, one that helps them prepare their mindset and set intention for the upcoming journey.

“Preparing something to drink is a ritual. Any technique that requires just a little bit of attention to a few variables focuses one’s awareness,” explained a 32-year-old who’s had mushroom tea around 20 times. “It’s part of a process of creating a space for an experience… [and can function] as a grounding exercise to allow the person to ‘be in the now’ for the duration of their drink.”

Besides making the magic mushrooms come on a little faster and possibly stronger, some folks report that the type of tea bag, herbs, or fruit they mix with their shroom tea can also have an effect on their mushroom experience.

“Anytime you drink a tea it changes your subjective experience,” says James W. Jesso, host of the Adventures Through the Mind podcast and author of Decomposing the Shadow: Lessons from the Psilocybin Mushroom. He explains that when you drink a tea, it has a certain effect on your experience: Whether that’s a calming sensation from lavender or an arousal effect from Catuaba bark,” says Jesso, “the art of tea is the art of herbal alchemy.”

Jesso also brings up psilocybin’s ability to change one’s “feeling state” to one where “feeling is an act of perception.” And that, perhaps, we’re extra perceptive to how our herbal teas are affecting us when we mix them with psilocybin. Lindsey Bartlett, cannabis industry writer and editor at Green Entrepreneur reports something similar: “I add in other tea ingredients for digestion and happiness, like tangerine, turmeric, white tea, marshmallow root, or peppermint.” Bartlett also says that she’ll add some seasonal fruit to her brew, and the trip itself can feel seasonal in turn. “In winter I was using blood orange juice and peels. The tea turned this deep, deep red and the trip was equally deep.”

Jesso also takes this idea one step further, that psilocybin-containing mushrooms are intelligent and speak to us in a way. Therefore, by combining psilocybin mushrooms with other plants in the form of a tea, we’re essentially opening up a line of communication with the intelligence of these other plants.

“If I’m working and living with a plant, if I’m consuming ashwagandha every day, for example, and I’ve been really trying to bring its effects into my body and change myself on some deeper level by having a relationship, then at some point, it might make sense to explicitly combine it with psilocybin to more deeply explore what that impact is,” explains Jesso. “Because I’m able to think and feel into myself in a deeper way [on psilocybin]. And like I said before about the intelligence of psilocybin, I think there’s a deeper capacity for the psilocybin to facilitate a dialogue between myself and the ashwagandha that otherwise wouldn’t be there, because ashwagandha doesn’t talk in human language the same way psilocybin seems to do when you take it.”

Although magic mushrooms can be enjoyed straight up as they are, they can make a great addition to your cooking – especially if you have a sweet tooth. Chocolate and magic mushrooms are an excellent mix, allowing you to enjoy great flavour as you munch down your shrooms. So here are a few recipes to combine the two into magic mushroom chocolate, making the mushroom experience much more palatable.

A QUICK WORD ON DOSAGE

Dosage for all of these recipes is quite simple. All you have to do is use one normal raw dose per portion.

Example: If you are creating one chocolate bar to share between two people, use two doses of magic mushrooms and evenly distribute it throughout the entire bar. This will mean half a bar equals one dose.

Important note: The psilocybin within magic mushrooms – the main psychoactive ingredient – quickly breaks down when exposed high temperatures, so make sure your shrooms are never placed in any overly hot substance.

1. QUICK AND EASY MAGIC MUSHROOM CHOCOLATE

The most simple and straight forward method of creating a magic mushroom infused chocolate is as follows.

YOU WILL NEED:

- Thoroughly dried magic mushrooms
- Bars of store bought chocolate (whatever you fancy)
- A large saucepan
- A glass bowl
- A sharp knife
- Chocolate moulds (if you don’t have moulds you can use a non-stick baking tray)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. The first thing to do is make sure your magic mushrooms are thoroughly dried.

2. Using your sharp knife, cut up your magic mushrooms into small pieces.

3. Break up you chocolate and place it in your glass bowl.

4. Put some water in your saucepan then place your glass bowl on top of it to create a DIY bain-marie.

5. Place your saucepan on a heat source and bring the water to boil. As the water boils it will heat up the chocolate above it, causing it to melt. Alternative: If you are struggling to get this to work, you can also place your bowl of chocolate in a microwave on low. However, whilst this will work, you will need to keep a very close eye on your chocolate, as it will easily burn when microwaved.

6. Now that you have melted chocolate, allow it to cool for a second.

7. Once the chocolate has cooled a little, but is still liquid, add in your finely cut mushrooms.

8. Stir the chocolate mix so that the mushroom are evenly distributed throughout it.

9. Carefully pour it out into your moulds and then put them in the fridge to cool and set.

Once it has set, enjoy!

2. MAKING MAGIC MUSHROOM CHOCOLATE FROM SCRATCH

If you fancy yourself as something of an expert in the kitchen, then why not try making some chocolate to put your mushrooms in from scratch?

YOU WILL NEED:

- Thoroughly dried magic mushrooms
- 2 cups of cocoa powder
- ¾ cup of unsalted butter
- ½ of sugar
- 2/3 cup of whole milk
- 1 cup of water
- ¼ cup of powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- A sharp knife
- A large saucepan
- Mixing bowls
- A sieve
- Chocolate moulds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place your water in your sauce pan and heat it to a simmer.

2. Whilst the water is heating, finely chop your dried magic mushrooms.

3. Mix the cocoa powder and butter into a paste.

4. Add the cocoa mix into the now hot water. Mix it all up and bring the mixture back to a simmer.

5. Once simmering, remove the mix from your heat source and transfer it into a mixing bowl.

6. Using a separate bowl, sift your sugars and salt together using a sieve. This will remove any lumps.

7. Add the sugar and salt into the cocoa mixture and stir thoroughly.

8. Whilst stirring, slowly add the milk to the mixture.

9. Once everything has reached an even consistency, add your magic mushrooms and stir thoroughly to help create an even spread.

10. Pour the chocolate into the moulds, then place them in a fridge to cool and set.

Enjoy!

3. MAGIC MUSHROOM HOT CHOCOLATE

For those who want to enjoy their magic mushroom experience as a chocolatey drink, try the following.

Note: be careful here not to make the drink too hot, or it could damage the mushrooms.

YOU WILL NEED:

- Thoroughly dried magic mushrooms
- 3 ½ cups of sugar
- 2 ¼ cups of cocoa
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- A cup of whole milk per serving
- A sharp knife
- Large mixing bowl
- An airtight container

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut up your dried magic mushrooms into small pieces.

2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, stirring thoroughly to ensure an even spread.

3. Put the mix in an airtight container, ready for use as your hot chocolate mix whenever you want it!
4. To turn you mix into a cup of hot chocolate, microwave a cup of milk so that it is hot, but not boiling. Then all you need to do is stir in 2 tablespoons of your mix and enjoy!

Note: it is a good idea to allow the mushrooms too steep in the mix for 5 minutes or so before drinking. Also, swallowing the chunks of mushroom will increase the potency of the trip – it is recommended, but is not necessary.

Additions: you can add anything else you want to the hot chocolate: whipped cream and marshmallows are great examples!

We hope you enjoy your new chocolatey treats! Combining mushrooms and chocolate is an age old tradition, and one we love.