Golden Teacher Mushrooms: Everything You Need to Know

Golden Teacher mushrooms (GT Mushrooms) are one of the most popular strains of psilocybin mushrooms. They are mostly cultivated for their above-average psilocybin potency, which serves as a beginner's gateway to psychedelic mushrooms. They feature caramel-colored stems and caps speckled with yellow hence the name Golden Teacher. 

These psychedelic mushroom strains are also known as golden caps, boomers, goldies, caps, and cubies. While the information on their origin is quite unknown or undocumented, anecdotal reference shows that the golden teacher mushrooms were first reported in a scientific literature in 1906 in Cuba, while research on the strains is most likely to have started in the early eighties. 

GT mushrooms represent one of the most available and widely used psilocybin strains in the world. They are found naturally growing on the manure of several ruminants like cows and goats.

Identifying GT mushrooms can be tricky, especially for novices, since they share similarities with poisonous mushrooms like the Deadly Webcap and Fool’s conecap. Misidentification may be deadly. 

GT mushrooms provide the right psilocybin potency for people trying psilocybin mushrooms for the first time (usually between 0.6 to 0.7%). Unlike Penis Envy and A+ strains, GT mushrooms are less likely to cause a bad trip unless when taken in large doses. 

Penis Envy vs. Golden Teacher

All psilocybin mushrooms are not the same. They differ in potency, strength, length of colonization, and types of spores formed. These minor differences can go a long way in assisting users in making the right choice before diving into the world of psychedelic mushrooms. Note that the quality of your psilocybin trips depends on the strains you consume. It also depends on ‘set and setting’ more than anything. 

While GT mushrooms share some similarities with Penis Envy and B+ mushrooms, they tend to have distinctive appearances and characteristics that make them outstanding. Some of the common differences include but are not limited to the following: 

• GT mushrooms have a shorter colonization time when compared to penis Envy mushrooms.
• They produce fewer spores which may make cultivation a bit tricky. 
• Lower psilocybin potency. GT mushrooms are classified as an above-average strain with a potency of 0.6 to 0.7%, contrary to the over 1% potency observed in Penis Envy.

What are the effects of Golden Teacher Mushrooms?

Golden Teacher mushrooms are brewed into tea or prepared drinks. They can be incorporated into foods or edibles like mushroom capsules and chocolate bars. See our article on magic mushroom chocolates. 

Factors that affect psilocybin potency include:

• Where it was grown or cultivated, the substrate can affect the psilocybin potency of shrooms. This is, however, subject to debate and further research. 
• The growing conditions or environment.
• Mode of harvest and storage. This was discussed in our article on how to store magic mushrooms .
• Mode of consumption. Dry GT mushrooms tend to have a higher concentration of psilocybin than fresh ones. The science behind this is, however, still being investigated. Dried magic mushrooms have ten times more psilocybin content than fresh ones. 

People who use GT mushrooms are most likely to experience the following effects; 

• Feeling relaxed, peaceful, and unity with their surroundings. 
• Experience new thought patterns.
• Enhanced visualizations of stimuli such as colors, lights, and objects.
• Rapid mood changes

Magic mushrooms also possess an excellent therapeutic benefit which may be great for mental disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. 

How magic mushroom trips look like

Planning to embark on your first magic mushroom trip? Well, here's what to expect. 

Note that experiences differ from one person to the other. These differences may arise from body chemistry, dosage, mindset, environment, and the presence of other substances in your system. While your experiences may differ, people who are tripping on GT mushrooms are most likely to experience the effects described below.

Caution: The effect can last up to eight hours, so having friends or trip buddies is important. For more guidance, you can read our article on how to prepare for a shroom trip. 

Magic mushroom trips can last six to eight hours, depending on the dosage. In most cases, it takes from 20 to 45 minutes for the onset of effects. Once these effects kick in, users are likely to be more conscious of their environment. Moderately potent psilocybin mushrooms like Golden Teacher may open your third eye (imagination) and make you see the world in a new dimension. 

After an hour into the trip, users may begin to perceive the beauty and colors around them. The nature and shape of your surroundings will come alive and start communicating with you. You may see the trees waving at you or see colors vibrating. 

This new discovery may lead you to fall in love with your environment and invite you to take a closer look at things. You may find yourself staring at an object for a long time. 

While many may describe this as a hallucination, it is important to note that you are actually seeing what is there, but this time from a different perspective. You are only focusing on what already exists but in a more concerned and focused manner. You don't experience this all the time because your brain undergoes what is known as sensory gating. 

Sensory gating is a theory that explains how our body filters out everything it feels is unnecessary or inessential. While the human brain can process 11 million bits of information per second, our conscious minds can only handle 40 to 50 bits per second. This leads to a loss of a lot of information or sensory input. 

The brain undergoes sensory gating to preserve our sanity. Imagine hearing every sound, feeling every vibration, or noticing everything around you. One’s mental health would be a mess. The thalamus acts as a filter and decides the most important stimuli to be interpreted. It’s kind of like an algorithm that decides what you should see on social media. 

When the effect of psilocybin and other psychedelics kick in, they alter the ability of the thalamus to promote sensory gating, thus, allowing the brain to deal with more stimuli. The brain experiences a flood of information that allows you to see your environment in a new dimension.

Note that sensory gating is controlled by the serotonergic (serotonin) system, which is the primary point of activity for psilocybin and other psychedelics. 

Users will continue to experience this effect until sensory gating is restored. 

Are there any side effects?

Dosing is important if you want to experience the best effect of psychedelic mushrooms. Using moderate to large doses of psilocybin mushrooms is likely to trigger:

• Loss of coordination 
• Sedation or drowsiness
• Muscle weakness 
• Intensified feelings of anxiety and possible panic attack
• Stomach upset, nausea and vomiting 

Note that the psilocybin effect is most likely to be felt at 1g of dried shrooms, but a dosage of 0.6 to 0.7 grams is excellent for novices and microdosing. A dosage of 2-3.5g is considered moderate, while anything above 4 grams may not be ideal for newbies. 

Golden Teacher mushrooms are gentle and euphoric and require several trials and errors to identify the best dosage. It mostly involves starting small and going slow. Keep the dosage as low as possible (microdose) until you find the perfect concentration that strikes a chord.

Need a little more Bluntness in your life? Subscribe for our newsletter to stay in the loop.