Mushroom Chocolates are Fancier Than Ever

The Azul customers I spoke to use its products for a wide variety of reasons. (I haven’t tried any, for the record. Because buying psilocybin products is illegal, I agreed to identify them by their first name only.) Chris, an artist and entrepreneur, initially began taking microdoses of Azul chocolates to help manage his depression while working with a psychedelic-supportive therapist. “I was crying less and hurting less, I muted my ego so my head and heart could communicate more effectively,” he says. But he also found that they provided a better recreational experience than alcohol. “I would eat some of the chocolate and wake up with a positive hangover instead of looking at my Amex statement through my fingers.”

Sam, a multimedia artist, who is a more experienced psychedelic user, says he likes to use the chocolates for special occasions. “I’m a bigger dose guy,” he says. “It will quiet my discursive, analytical mind. That’s great for making art, great for experiencing nature, great for making a deep connection with a friend.” He says that he appreciates the lab testing that Azul performs because there is a big difference between a 2-3 gram dose, which he prefers, and a bigger one, say 4-5 grams.

Vanessa, also an artist, swears by psilocybin for treating her migraines (there is promising anecdotal evidence for this, and a study is currently underway at Yale). “I feel just these waves of healing and insight and relief, and within 15 minutes, it’s gone.” While she acknowledges this is “woo-woo,” she finds that different mushrooms have different energies; she once threw out a whole bag that was “too sad.” Of Azul, she says, “Energetically, these mushrooms are the most beautiful mushrooms I’ve ever experienced.”

Processing mushrooms into chocolates offers a number of advantages, according to those who make and consume them. For one, they taste better, at least to most people, who might find the dried variety recall dirt, feet, or, more mercifully, pumpkin seeds. The texture isn’t great, either. “I prefer not picking mushrooms out of my teeth,” David says. Chocolates are also shelf stable for months, unlike the mushrooms themselves, which will oxidize if not stored properly. Bars also offer a good way of standardizing dosage, and letting people take as much or as little as they would like, since they break apart. “The most important thing is to create consistency,” David says.

This emphasis on consistency makes sense: Psilocybin can have a much wider range of effects than weed. Large doses can have powerful effects, good and bad; Pollan’s book details his careful approach to taking large amounts of psilocybin and other substances, often with professional help. A case history published in the American Journal of Psychiatry seeks to illustrate the risks: “While our patient’s experience began positively, it ultimately resulted in profoundly deleterious consequences for her mental health and personal life, both acutely and long-term.”

A mushroom grower I’ll call Jaime, whose small grow room reeks of earthy, humid mushroom funk and tinkles with magnetic stirrers agitating spores, provides customers with handouts about the strength and effects of different mushrooms. (The world of illegal psilocybin is surprisingly heavy on educational handouts.) Jaime grows specialty strains, like a farmer’s market vendor preserving heirloom vegetables. One variety might spark “fairly benign yawning fits followed by big smiles,” while a more intense strain could produce “powerful visuals even at lower doses.” Jaime also offers customers an infographic about dosing, which describes a range from the tiny micro-dose to amounts that may cause, according to more than one person I spoke to, “ego dissolution.”