Key takeaways.
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What is the lemon tek method?
The lemon tek method requires you to soak dry psilocybin mushrooms in lemon jucie for 15 minutes before consuming them. Reportedly, the citric acids cause a chemical reaction that breaks down and partially digests the dried shrooms for you, resulting in a shorter but more pronounced psychedelic experience once ingested.
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What's the point of using the lemon tek method?
Many users report that the effects come on faster, have a shorter duration, and are much more intense—2 - 3 times more intense, to be exact. A lesser body load is also reported and less nausea symptoms.
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How does the lemon tek method work?
It's never been scientifically proven, but theoretically, the acidic nature of lemon juice helps to break down chitinase, the cell walls of magic mushrooms that are tough for our bodies to break down and contribute to the feelings of nausea. This means the compounds can pass through the stomach and to the liver faster for enzymatic conversion into psilocin, the active hallucinogenic compound.
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What is the lemon tek onset time when using magic mushrooms?
Lemon tekking typically results in a much faster onset compared to consuming raw mushrooms, with effects often beginning within 15-30 minutes. The onset time may vary based on the specific type and potency of the magic mushrooms. Psilocybin cubensis, our go-to species for our macrodose and microdose formulas, often has a relatively quick onset with lemon tekking. While the rapid onset can be desirable for some, it's essential to be prepared for the intensity of the experience, and inexperienced users should exercise caution.
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Can I lemon tek with macrodose capsules?
Yes. In fact, if you're choosing to lemon tek, we recommend opting for macrodose capsules like our Balanced High (a.k.a. Scooby Snacks) and Extended Release macrodose formulas. This ensures that you get a precise dose every time so you know what to expect from your trip, and allows you to experience the synergistic benefits of both the psilocybin and other ingredients.
To lemon tek with macrodose capsules, open the capsules and introduce them to the lemon juice as per the instructions in this guide, just like you would with dried mushrooms. This method allows you to experience the benefits of both the capsule's ingredients and the lemon tek process.
While we love magic mushrooms ever so dearly, there are sometimes things you’d like to modify about the experience. In this pursuit, psilonauts and psychonauts around the world have been using the “lemon tek” method to do exactly that.
While clinical science has yet to weigh in, lemon tekking shrooms has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon that delivers a faster-acting, more intense psychedelic experience—without the nausea. The secret sauce?
Lemon juice.
However, lemon tekking is arguably one of the most enticing, yet least studied, shrooming methods among users today.
Some lemon tek shrooms to reduce the body load and subsequent nausea. Others are just okay with having a shorter, more intense trip. But the general consensus seems to be that lemon tekking altogether reduces the duration of the high, makes it more intense, and reduces the body load.
In this article, we cover 10 key fundamentals you should know about before lemon tekking, like how it works and who should consider it, so you can decide if this method is right for your psychedelic healing journey.
We also give you a simple and practical step-by-step guide to lemon tekking, plus some tips you won't find anywhere else.
What is lemon tekking with magic mushrooms, and what's the point?
The lemon tek essentially means soaking your dried mushrooms in lemon juice before taking it as a whole shot. The concept behind this, as reported by so many on Shroomery, is to reduce the duration of a mushroom trip while simultaneously making it more intense. Users report a much faster onset and fewer physical side effects like nausea—it’s all psychonaut travel.
Given the nature of a lemon tek and the reasons people do it, this is the kind of thing you’d want to reserve for a macrodose. You’d have pretty much no reason to lemon tek a microdose.
And given that it might make a mushroom trip much more intense—up to two to three times stronger—we probably wouldn’t recommend it to first-time trippers.
The point, put simply, is to feel the effects more quickly, more intensely, and for a shorter period. The lemon tek is worth trying if you want to boost the experience to the next level.
SUMMARY
The "lemon tek" method involves soaking dried mushrooms in lemon juice to intensify and shorten the duration of the trip, making it more suitable for experienced users seeking a faster and more intense experience. It is not recommended for first-time psychonauts.
The science behind the faster onset and reduced nausea.
Psilocybin is a prodrug, so it's not psychoactive until it’s converted to psilocin by the liver. Soaking dry mushrooms in lemon juice—or another citrus juice—before ingesting them allegedly begins to convert psilocybin to psilocin, thanks to the acidic nature of the lemon juice.
But this is mostly hearsay and isn't based on any real science.
Given that the liver converts psilocybin to psilocin, it’s unlikely that mimicking the acidic nature of the stomach would instigate this conversion process.
Instead, the stomach's role in digesting magic mushrooms is to break down chitin, the compound that makes up the cell walls of mushrooms. Most of the active compounds are hiding in the cell walls, but mushroom cells aren’t made of cellulose like other vegetables, so they’re a little harder to break open.
It’s more likely that the lemon tek method simply helps to break down the cell walls of magic mushrooms, which makes the passage of psilocybin to the liver much faster.
Essentially, what a person creates with the lemon tek method is a little magic mushroom extraction, making it more bioavailable, easier to digest and absorb, and resulting in a shorter but more pronounced psychedelic experience once ingested.
Aside from faster onset and shorter duration, users can enjoy other benefits when using this method of consumption.
SUMMARY
The lemon tek method's alleged conversion of psilocybin to psilocin through lemon juice is largely based on anecdotal evidence. The more likely explanation is that it aids in breaking down the cell walls of magic mushrooms. This allows for quicker digestion and absorption, resulting in a shorter but more intense psychedelic experience, along with other potential benefits like a faster onset.
Lemon tekking is also economical.
Lemon tekking can also be a more economical method of consuming magic mushrooms. This method enhances potency and efficiency while reducing the mushrooms needed to achieve the desired experience.
When a smaller amount of mushrooms can further produce the desired psychedelic effects, you can make your supply of mushrooms last longer and save money in the long run. Instead of needing larger quantities of mushrooms, the enhanced potency allows you to maximize the effects with a smaller dose.
1. Does lemon tekking enhance the psychedelic experience?
Yes. Though not for everyone, lemon tekking is recommended by many experienced psychonauts as a natural way to both accelerate and concentrate the onset of psilocybin’s consciousness-expanding effects.
With a brief citric acid soak in advance, users can eliminate the one- to two-hour delay between taking magic mushrooms and feeling their impact while also cutting down on the nausea that often precedes the experience.
According to user accounts on forums like Reddit, Erowid, and Shroomery, a lemon tek experience involves less bodily and more heady sensations, such as fractal visuals and spiritual profundity, reducing physical exhaustion in the aftermath.
Most strikingly, it can feel up to two to three times stronger than if you’d taken the same weight of un-tekked mushrooms, with a jarringly abrupt come-up or onset of effects.
SUMMARY
Lemon tekking is favored by experienced users to speed up and intensify the effects of psilocybin, resulting in a faster onset, reduced nausea, and a more profound and potent experience.
2. How does lemon tekking work?
One explanation for lemon tekking’s enhanced effects, advanced by Australian mycologist Caine Barlow, is that the antioxidant properties of vitamin C protect the psilocin from oxidizing, so the juices can essentially release this crucial compound without using it up.
Other explanations are still subject to debate.
We know for sure that lemon and other citrus juices have a pH similar to that of stomach acid – 2 to 2.6 compared to 1.5 to 3.5 – and that dephosphorylation of the shrooms’ enzymes increases under such acidic conditions.
As mentioned earlier, the theory is that these juices break down psychedelic mushrooms so your digestive system doesn’t have to, exposing the readily available psilocybin into psilocin, the prodrug responsible for the coveted psychoactive effects. Both these compounds reside naturally in the fungi’s cell walls, which are reinforced with chitin rather than cellulose-like plant cells, making them especially difficult for our bodies to break down otherwise.
The mechanical breakdown of dried psilocybin mushrooms into a grounded powder (which mimics chewing) in addition to soaking in lemon juice both aid in breaking down the chitinous cell wall.
Since your body can digest the mushrooms more easily, you'll experience a faster onset and shorter duration.
SUMMARY
Lemon tekking is believed to work by protecting psilocin with vitamin C's antioxidants, aiding in its efficient release. The acidic environment of citrus juices and the breakdown of the mushrooms' chitinous cell wall contribute to quicker digestion, leading to a faster onset and shorter trip duration.
3. What are the benefits of lemon tekking psilocybin mushrooms?
Besides intensifying the psilocybin experience, the primary advantages of lemon tekking over consuming raw mushrooms include:
- a decrease in nausea associated with consuming mushrooms
- a faster onset of the effects
- a shorter overall duration of the experience
- less exhaustion during and after the experience because your body has less work to do when breaking down the raw compounds of mushrooms.
However, not everyone may agree that a faster journey is always better. It’s a matter of preference, timing, and experience whether you’d like a more efficient, concentrated experience or one with the more standard, drawn-out come-up and come-down, with waves of varying intensity along the way.
SUMMARY
Lemon tekking offers benefits such as reducing nausea, quicker onset, shorter trip duration, and less post-trip exhaustion, but the choice between this efficient experience and the standard gradual journey depends on personal preference and experience.
4. How long will it take for me to feel the shrooms if I lemon tek?
Most people who lemon tek will start to notice the citrus-soaked mushrooms’ medicinal psychedelic effects within 10-45 minutes and have an experience lasting four to six hours total.
You can compare that against the extended-release of dried shrooms taking 30-90 minutes to kick in and lasting six to eight hours total. The more immediate effects, shorter duration, and fewer waves of intensity are characteristic of the lemon tek method of shrooming.
5. Which mushroom strains are best for lemon tekking?
Of course, how pronounced and persistent these effects are will depend on the type and amount of psilocybin mushrooms used. As one of the most widely circulated indoor strains, Psilocybin cubensis is probably the most common magic mushroom species to lemon tek. However, other species like Psilocybe tampensis and Psilocybe mexicana are also readily available to find and work just as well.
On the other hand, lemon tekking mushrooms is not recommended for use with the more potent shroom varieties, including both fresh mushrooms found outdoors in the wild, like P. azurescens, and those cultivated indoors, like the Penis Envy strain of P. cubensis.
Most importantly, you should have a good idea of how strong the magic mushrooms are under normal conditions before lemon tekking, and start with roughly half to one-third of what you’d usually ingest.
Not sure where to source your shrooms?
You could always start with My Supply Co.’s magic mushroom strain collection, which provides different varieties of high-quality shrooms in one place.
SUMMARY
Lemon tekking with potent varieties like P. azurescens and Penis Envy isn't recommended. It's crucial to understand the mushrooms' normal potency and start with a dose, about 50% smaller than your usual.
6. Who is lemon tekking for?
Lemon tekking mushrooms is mainly recommended for those with some macrodose psilocybin experiences behind them, who’d like a more economical, quicker, and stronger mushroom trip. The more intense experience may be too abrupt for first-timers, or even relatively new users, to adjust to and integrate successfully.
It could also be helpful for psychonauts with sensitive stomachs, as it tends to eliminate or at least reduce nausea that typically accompanies the shroom experience’s outset. Some people even have a genetic mutation causing them to lack chitinase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down chitin in the fungi’s cell walls, making lemon tekking potentially essential to a comfortable psilocybin experience.
7. Can I lemon tek when microdosing psilocybin?
It’s not recommended.
While lemon tekking is meant to concentrate the psilocybin experience, microdosing draws it out, extracting benefits from a near-subconscious dose, so trying to combine these methods would defeat the purpose of each.
Generally, if a faster or more intense experience isn’t what you’re looking for, lemon tekking is probably the wrong way to go, at least for the time being.
Instead, check out our microdosing guide and learn how psychedelics can help level up your life without a full-blown macrodose journey.
8. What dosage should I lemon tek with?
For lemon tekking, you’ll want to consume about half of your usual dose.
As mentioned in point 7, lemon tekking is not recommended if you intend to microdose.
Explore the different dosage levels for the safe use of psilocybin mushrooms, including a mini-dose, museum dose, moderate dose, and macrodose in our Ultimate Magic Mushroom Dosage Guide.
9. Can I use other citrus fruits, or should it only be lemon juice?
Yes, but not all other citrus fruits are sufficient.
Lime juice will achieve basically the same effects as lemons, having a similar pH level in the 2-2.6 range. On the other hand, oranges or pineapple juices won’t work as well because their pH is in the 3.2 - 4.3 range, exceeding that of stomach acid, which tops out at around 3.5.
As a rule, the liquid component must have a pH that's less than your stomach acid's for lemon tekking to work reliably. Thus, there are user reports of successfully employing other alternatives for the solution like pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar, and cheap red wine.
10. Can I lemon tek and drink the mushrooms as a tea or other concoction?
Yes. Making mushroom tea is another popular way of ingesting magic mushrooms that’s completely compatible with lemon tekking. Best of all, both tend to reduce nausea, so pairing them up can only bode well for your constitution.
To pair these preparations, repeat steps one through four as outlined below, then add the strained lemon tek to the hot tea of your choice. If you’d prefer iced, you can add cold water and a sweetener like honey to mix your own psilocybin lemonade.
11. How to lemon tek magic mushrooms.
If, after reading all that, you’ve decided lemon tekking is for you, let’s run through the practical instructions, like how to prepare and how long to soak your mushrooms.
To lemon tek, you will need these supplies:
- Psilocybin mushrooms, approximately half your usual dose
- 1-2 lemons, or the equivalent of fresh lemon juice. You could also use other citrus juices with similar pH levels, like limes.
- A clean cannabis or coffee grinder
- Cheesecloth or a coffee filter (optional)
- A shot glass or cocktail shaker
- Scale
Step 1. Grind your magic mushrooms into a fine powder.
The finer they are ground, the better. More surface area allows the lemon juice to do more of its work. Once ground, put the shroom powder in a shot glass or cocktail shaker.
Step 2. Juice 1 - 2 whole lemons and pour it over the magic mushrooms. Mix with a spoon.
You can also use any other citrus juice. The mushrooms should be entirely submerged. If you need to juice more lemon, do that until the mushrooms are fully covered.
Step 3. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Let the mushroom powder and lemon juice concoction sit for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring or shaking intermittently. This gives the acidic lemon juice a chance to break down the cell walls of the magic mushrooms.
Step 4. (Optional) Strain the concoction.
Strain to remove bits of dried mushroom material and squeeze out all their juice through a cheesecloth or coffee filter. This step may help reduce nausea.
Step 5. Consume in its entirety.
Drink the concoction as a shot. It's important to consume the magic mushrooms with the lemon juice. You don't have to chew.
It's only going to take around 15 - 30 minutes for magic mushrooms to take effect after using the lemon tek method—so buckle in for the ride!
How to Lemon Tek Shrooms 🍋🍄 from DoubleBlind on YouTube.
Lemon tek testimonials: Here’s what people are saying.
Co-author of The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible Dr. K Mandrake sums up how little we really conclusively know about lemon tekking:
“All of the knowledge on lemon tek is purely theoretical, based on the knowledge that psilocybin dephosphorylation is increased under acidic conditions combined with users generally reporting a quicker onset when using the Tek. It’s a fairly reasonable hypothesis, but hasn’t really been tested properly as far as I’m aware.”
So the scientific jury is still out on this one, as long as the current legal restrictions on psilocybin’s use and study persist. Therefore, to have the last word, here are some relevant firsthand quotes excerpted from this thread about lemon tekking on the Shroomery message boards, separated by username.
Bigfeely123:
“In my experience, the lemon tek makes the trip a lot more intense. It hits you waaaay faster and a lot harder but doesn’t last quite as long…I don’t know by how much it will multiply the dosage but it definitely makes it a lot stronger. If your normal dose is one gram of pan cyans then I really wouldn’t recommend lemon tekking one gram. Cut the dosage in half or even thirds if you want to play it safe. Better safe than sorry!”
Feelthejourney666:
“Personally i like lemon tek, I think it’s more economical because you can get more out of less, but I have also had very bad times lemon tekking a full 3.5 grams, the peak of it felt like I was stuck in dmt hyperspace essentially, parallel realities spawning randomly every time I had a new thought.”
P.Zappatecorum:
“I do lemon tea every time, the peak is indeed a little more intense, and the trip is shorter. Mostly it’s just a matter of adjustment to the very rapid onset of psychedelia. I personally don’t see any reason to reduce the dose from what you normally take, just make sure you’re lying down and listening to some good tunes because when it hits you, you will be tripping balls and you won’t have any time to ease into it. I suppose if you’re wanting to walk around and be social then lemon tek is a bad idea, but it’s actually great for really intense but shorter and more manageable shamanic sessions and once you master your fear the intense come on can give you a nice rush of euphoria. High doses with lemon tek can almost feel like a roll in terms of euphoria.”
Triple Helix:
“I lemon tekd 2.5 grams of cubensis for my first time and was catapulted into an insane reality. Like feelthejourney said, I was humbled by the mushrooms to say the least. One second everything seemed a little off…. next second I have no concept of time, space, or who I am. It was incomprehensible, but for that reason, also incredible.”
LogicaL Chaos:
“My new preference is a pseudo-lemon tek, i.e. i use a tropical fruit juice blend, put it in a shot glass, add some powdered shrooms, let soak for a couple minutes then shoot the shot back, repeat until my shroom powder is used up.”
And here are some relevant firsthand quotes excerpted from this thread about lemon tekking on the Shroomery message boards, separated by username.
PSYCHEdeliciousSLOTH
evertime i do lemon tek tea, it hits me in 10-15 minutes, and i immediately start peaking, then coming down at hour 4 or 6, depends. it knocks my socks off at 2.5-3.5g though, rarely went higher because i have "breakthrough" experiences at around 4g, and always feel sad to the point where i want to stop existing on any dosage, crying and deep profound sadness, like feeling everyone's repressed bad emotions in one mind.
Admiral_Kunkka_
I’ve done 3g dried, into several lemons worth of juice, and blended with an immersion blender into a powder. Let it dwell in the juice for about 20m. I tripped so hard I couldn’t watch TV. Like my eyes would “react” to seeing the brightness of a screen and I had to divert them. Put on some sunglasses and went for a post-rain walk. Was like a portal for a 2.5 hour vacation to Hawaii. This method also apparently reduced the duration of the trip. It was lovely 🙂
nkarkas
Mega success. Every time for past 3 years (4 or 5 times at least). Definitely 9nsets way faster, under 30 minutes perceptible, subjectively at least 50% higher intensity, effects felt negligible after 4 hours (and not fucking 7 or something). Only way to fly IMHO EDIT: You can kiss nausea goodbye and I'd vouch for near 50% reduced body load.
Consistent_Bread_992
My way to make a tea is just get my mushrooms in a plastic bag, crush them up, then put the powder in a mug along with a teabag and pour the hot water over it. Then I add my lemon juice. I stir every 5 mins for like 30 mins then it’s ready. I get a spoon and fish out the chunks. Has never failed me and tastes GREAT. You can eat them if you’re afraid you’ll lose potency, they are easily swallowable.
Have you used the lemon tek method? What differences did you notice to consuming magic mushrooms dry? We'd love to hear from you. Drop your lemon tek story in the comments.
Read: The Ultimate Guide to Magic Mushroom Microdosing
Read: The Ultimate Magic Mushroom Dosage Guide
Read: Microdose Cycling: What It Is, and Why You Should Be Doing It
Read: The Benefits of Microdosing Psilocybin — Without the Fluff
Read: How to Make Magic Mushroom Gummies
Read: How to Make Magic Mushroom Brownies
Read: How to Make Shroom Tea: The Ultimate Mushroom Tea Guide
