What is lemon tekking?

It’s mushroom foraging season here in Aotearoa and we’ve been hearing from a growing number of people who are trying lemon tekking, so we wanted to explore what it is, why people are doing it, and how you can stay safer if you’re trying it out.

  

What is lemon tekking? 

Lemon tekking is a method of preparing psilocybin mushrooms for consumption. It involves soaking dried and ground mushrooms in lemon juice for around 20 to 30 minutes before straining the mushrooms and drinking the juice.  

 

How does lemon tekking work? 

There is little to no conclusive research about why lemon tekking changes the psilocybin mushroom experience so dramatically, but there are some theories.  

The leading theory is that the pH level of lemon juice is similar to the pH of stomach acid, which lets it predigest psilocybin into psilocin, which is the active ingredient that causes people to get high. 
 

Why do people lemon tek? 

Lemon tekkers we talked to and Reddit users on r/shroomers and r/shrooms say that lemon tekking can condense a mushroom trip, meaning it kicks in sooner, hits harder, and doesn’t last as long as with other methods of consumption.  

"It seems to be more consistent with how high you get, and you come up and down in a predictable amount of time which makes it easier to know what to expect."

Reddit users also report that lemon tekking can make a trip feel twice as strong as the dose usually would. 

"After taking the shrooms the come up was so fast, I started feeling it within 30 minutes. We sat on the porch listening to music and laughing while casually eating a whole bag of grapes, while it kicked in. All of the sudden I started feeling what I’ve described as a ball of tension in my stomach…I think my friends are looking at me and wishing harm on me (now I know they were just as high and chilling lol)."

 
Some users also report that lemon tekking can reduce the nausea that some people experience when taking psilocybin mushrooms. 

“It’s much more palatable than any other way I’ve tried…It decreases the nausea and body load from them a lot. I don’t really experience any nausea or body load from mushrooms, but my partner will throw up and have immense body load if he takes them any other way.” 

 

How can you be safer if you’re lemon tekking? 

All of our usual tips to stay safer when using mushrooms apply when lemon tekking. 

Because lemon tekking can intensify the effects of psilocybin mushrooms, consider taking half as much as you would with other methods of consumption, and be especially careful when measuring your dose.  

It’s worth noting that dosing psilocybin mushrooms is particularly unreliable as the psilocybin content can vary drastically between each individual mushroom. Drying, grinding, and mixing mushrooms into a power can help to make dosing more consistent.  
 

“Be considerate of how much you have eaten prior to consumption, if you have an empty stomach, it can come on quick and hit you harder.” 

One of the biggest risks with magic mushrooms is accidentally taking other poisonous varieties that look similar.  

If you're foraging for mushrooms, make sure you do your research. There are lots of helpful websites and forums, like The Shroomery, that provide tips on how to identify psilocybin mushrooms.  

You can also check out an interview we did with an ecologist about how to stay safer when foraging, check out the most googled questions about mushrooms, or read this article on psychedelic mushrooms from KnowYourStuff.