How to Make Amanita Muscaria Tea
My first exposure to Amanita muscaria was not something grand. Just a walk in the woods in Wicklow, a turn of the head, and fifty red and white caps shimmering in the undergrowth.
I brought them home, placed them in the corner, and did not touch them. That evening, something shifted. A block I had been carrying for weeks quietly dissolved.
Still. Quiet. Unhurried.
That first message set the tone for everything that followed, and it is exactly what this mushroom continues to be for me. Not a spectacle, but a grounding tool.
The tea has been having something of a resurgence for me lately. Not just the drinking of it, but the making of it. There is something in the process that slows me down… settles me… before I have even taken a sip.
I work with this mushroom intuitively rather than on a fixed schedule, sometimes more intensively with the dried powder, sometimes stepping back entirely. But the tea is the preparation I return to when I want to arrive somewhere more deliberately. That process of making it… the patience it asks of you before you have even begun… is reflective of what makes this mushroom a grounding tool.
Why Preparation Changes Everything
Amanita muscaria contains two main active compounds: ibotenic acid and muscimol. Both are present in the dried caps, typically in a ratio of around three to two, though this can shift depending on drying temperature.
The tea changes that balance further.
When you apply sustained, gentle heat, a low simmer held over time, a chemical conversion occurs. This is called decarboxylation, sometimes referred to as degradation. Ibotenic acid converts into muscimol, the compound associated with the calmer, more settled, more contemplative qualities of this mushroom. The preparation itself is a choice about what you are working with.
But this is not just chemistry. And it is not only about what happens in the pot.
In the video I made to accompany this post, I talk about how the experience is not just the chemistry of the mushroom. It is the chemistry and the context of what you bring to it. What kind of space are you preparing for? What are you open to receiving? It could be as simple as creating space to rest, to go into stillness, to step away from the noise for a while.
This understanding is not new. If you follow the research, there are traces of it woven into Irish and Celtic tradition… tales of crimson foods, cauldrons of inspiration, the connection to the birch, motifs of wisdom and otherworldly journeys. In a recent conversation with Nora, an indigenous-informed researcher studying Amanita muscaria, I found myself drawn into this thread again… the possibility that this mushroom was known here, that its qualities were understood and encoded in story and symbol long before any of us arrived at it from the outside.
I hold that lightly. These are threads worth following, not conclusions I would claim. But they point to something that feels true in practice: intention and attention are part of the preparation.
What You Need
This is a simple preparation. The quality of what goes in matters far more than the equipment.
- Dried Amanita muscaria caps, Irish-foraged, dried at 50°C. Know your source. The quality of your material is everything.
- 5g of dried caps
- 300ml of filtered or spring water, well water works well
- A saucepan, a fine strainer or cheesecloth, and a mug worth drinking from
That is it. Deliberately simple.
How to Prepare Amanita Muscaria Tea
Bring your water to a boil, then lower it to a gentle simmer. Add your dried caps directly to the water.
Hold the simmer for a minimum of twenty minutes. Thirty is better. The key here is low and slow… a longer, gentler simmer drives more conversion of ibotenic acid into muscimol, which is what you are aiming for.
The water will turn a golden amber as it draws the compounds from the caps. That amber colour is what you are looking for.
When your simmer time is up, take it off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes. Then strain through your strainer or cheesecloth into your mug, removing all cap material. What is left is a clean, amber preparation, the liquid only.
Stay present while it is on the heat. This is not a metaphor. The preparation genuinely benefits from attention. Use that time to arrive, set an intention, sit with what you are making, let the act of making it be part of the practice.
As for taste: the tea has an earthy, mildly bitter quality. Not unpleasant, closer to a mushroom broth than a herbal tea. Some people add a small amount of honey.
Is Amanita Muscaria Tea Safe?
When properly prepared from quality dried caps, yes. The simmering process reduces ibotenic acid, the compound responsible for most adverse effects, and converts it into muscimol. Raw or improperly dried material carries more risk, which is why sourcing and preparation both matter.
Start low. Work slowly. This mushroom rewards patience.
Amanita Muscaria Tea Dosage
Five grams in 300ml of water will simmer down to approximately 150ml of finished tea, give or take depending on the strength of your simmer and how long you hold it.
Start with one tablespoon as your first cup. That is approximately half a gram. See how you feel. Wait. Work your way from there.
Everybody’s nervous system is different. There is no universal dose. What I can say with confidence, from six years of working with this mushroom, is: you do not need much. Start low. You can always have more. You cannot have less. If you are exploring lower doses over time, our microdosing guide is a good place to start.
Leftover tea is kept in a sealed glass container in the fridge for a week or so. It also freezes well in small portions, an ice cube tray works well if you are making a larger batch.
Amanita Muscaria Tea Effects: What to Expect
The gift this mushroom offers most reliably is presence. A quieting of the noise that accumulates in a busy mind. Not a numbing, not a switching off, but a settling… a reduction of that relentless internal chatter to something that feels more like stillness. From that place, things that were obscured tend to become available again: intuition, clarity, a kind of ease that does not have to be forced.
This is not abstract. It is something I return to again and again, in different circumstances, with different things weighing on me. The mushroom does not remove what is there. It creates enough stillness to be able to see it more clearly.
What I know now is that the tea, more than any other form, asks something of you before you have even begun. It is slower. More intentional. The act of making it is a ritual in itself: the sourcing of the caps, the patient simmer, the amber colour appearing, the straining. You have arrived somewhere before you have even drunk anything.
I try my best not to approach this in a rush. I try to set time aside, to bring some intention to it… what am I carrying into this space? What am I open to? I do not always manage it. Life does not always allow for the pace I would choose. But that is the guidance I would offer: try to create the space. It makes a difference.
How you arrive matters as much as what you consume.
One Last Thing
Fáilte, if you are new to this mushroom, welcome.
Start with one tablespoon. Let the making of it be part of the experience.
If you want to go deeper, through the science, the history, or working with Amanita in a more guided way, the knowledge hub has more. If you are curious about sourcing quality dried caps, you can find what I work with here. And if a more personal exploration feels right, a discovery session may be for you.
Be still. And you will Remember.
— Rob, Amanita Awakens
