Are the true if they turn blue?

A very very old friend of mine once imparted some wisdom to me on the subject of identifying magic mushrooms. He says that the druids who popped up around the time of Crowely coined the phrase "true blue" as a reference to telling bad, poisonous shrooms from the mysterious, magical variety. Is there any truth to that saying, or are there case scenarios when that saying simply doesn't apply? I'm assuming that such a saying works in this area because the old man has to be older than 90, and he's been tripping for years, though never out of season, and always as a "Ceremony" enhancer. So, are they true if they're blue after you pinch them?

 

if they bruise blue, they are probably magic mushrooms.

there may be rare exceptions, but in general shrooms (fresh) will bruise blue from handling. this is due to oxidation of the "psilly" chemicals within the fruit.

also i've never heard of a cubensis that didn't bruise blue. most others species of psychedelic mushrooms turn blue too.

like i said, maybe there are exceptions somewhere out there, but the "true blue" rule seems to be pretty fair.

 

Yeah, blue is usually a good indictator for psilocybin. However, it is no substitute for thorough examination and proper identification. There's no reason to risk possible death from poisoning on account of being careless!

 

yeah, but then there ARE psilocybian mushrooms which either don't bruise very much, if at all, such as Pan. subbalteatus (from what i understand)

also, i have heard of a few non-psilocybin producing mushrooms which DO bruise blue, however i don't remember which types of mushrooms or if they're dangerous. when in doubt, do without.

this isn't entirely relevant, but it may be worth mentioning that in my experience with cubes (former cultivation hobbyist) they don't always bruise exactly blue....sometimes its more of a green color, and on rare occasions sometimes dark dark blue. and some mushrooms, if grown to full maturity, will have a fuzzy dark purple (almost black) color on them. these are not bruises, but the spores that have fallen from the cap and stuck to the stipe or the cap. evidence is shaky as to when mushrooms are most potent, but in my experience any difference that may exist is negligable. that said, it is generally agreed that once mushrooms have actually dropped spore, they begin to lose potency.

thats pretty much all i know about bruising and such

but like i said earlier, when in doubt, do without.

 

Well dudes, I am happy to report that only ten caps, boiled for 20 mins at a low temp, and then mixed with kool-aid was enough to send 7 people to the moon last night and we're all still alive and well. Now I just need to figure out how to store the rest... And yes, they all turned blue.... very very blue indeed!

 

dry them out with a dessicant and keep them in an airtight container in a COOL, DRY, DARK place and they should maintain potency for quite a while. the caps are not more potent then stems, they contain the same chemicals in pretty much the same concentrations, don't throw anything out.

boiling them (or even simmering) is a very bad idea, as it will reduce potency considerably. too high temperatures are likely to significantly weaken the mushrooms. never use heat to dry them. if you wish to make tea (i always do) i recommend breaking them up as small as possible and allowing them to steep for about 20 minutes. never bring the water to a full boil, bring it just below boiling point and take it off the heat. it will retain some amount of warmth for quite some time, and will be entirely sufficient for making tea. the kool-aid idea is fine, but a much healthier and "earthy" alternative is to put some bags of strongly flavored tea in with the mushrooms as they're steeping. i recommend something like earl grey or just regular black tea, but green tea and some herbal teas work well, too. strong black tea (flavored or not) will help to keep you a little more alert for the trip without the caffeine jitters like if you drank coffee or something. it also almost perfectly masks the flavor of the shrooms, and it just tastes like normal tea with a slight fungal underflavor.

you can purchase empty teabags, and i like to fill them with cut up fresh or dried mushrooms when making my tea. makes the whole process cleaner and easier, but i'm not sure if it effects the extraction process by much on account of having the substance all bunched up (less ease in the circulation of the hot water....make sure you stir every few minutes if you do it this way)

it also allows you to make a second batch of tea more easily with more warm water and new black/herbal tea once you finish your first batch. this should help get what little alkaloids are left that havent been consumed already.

 

There are countless mushrooms that range from non active to deadly that will bruise blue. This is no where near being a good indicator.

 

You couldn't be more right!

 

I wondered about that little saying, but i think that regional differentiation comes into play in most areas of the world. I'm assuming from what I've discovered in South Carolina that blue is a good indicator, but the underside of the caps also need to be dark and the tops should be off-white to brown... as well as the stalk turning some sort of shade of blue or bluish purple. One of those fuckers was practically bleeding blue when i snatched it... I ate that one right then and there, and that was all it took...

BTW... are 8-10 inch p. cubensis common in most fields? I think I've been getting unreasonably lucky...