{"id":9821,"date":"2023-08-30T06:14:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T06:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=5771936"},"modified":"2023-08-30T06:14:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T06:14:25","slug":"colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s first Psychedelic Cup celebrates mushroom home growers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/08\/09\/mushroom-season-colorado-foraging-edible-functional-fungi-mountains-rain\/\">Colorado\u2019s mushroom season<\/a> will extend into the fall this year with an event geared toward celebrating home growers who specialize in cultivating the psychedelic variety.<\/p>\n<p>Denver\u2019s inaugural <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copsychedeliccup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Psychedelic Cup<\/a>, coming to Mile Station, at 2027 W. Colfax Ave,) on Nov. 2, aims not only to bring local growers together but also to collect data to learn more about what\u2019s in the fungi.<\/p>\n<p>Competition coordinator Jonathan Cherkoss said the idea for the Psychedelic Cup came from seeing similar ones happen around the country. Colorado is uniquely suited for such an event, he said, since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2022\/11\/08\/colorado-results-prop-122-legalizing-psilocybin-psilocin-mushrooms\/\">voters opted to decriminalize several psychedelic substances<\/a> last November. That includes psilocybin and psilocin, two compounds found in \u201cmagic mushrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5754934\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_half\"><img class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers.jpg\" alt=\"LAKEWOOD, CO - AUGUST 11 : Harvested home-grows psilocybin mushrooms by John Bigley at his home in Lakewood, Colorado on Friday, August 11, 2023. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)\" width=\"8256\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"5754934\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/colorados-first-psychedelic-cup-celebrates-mushroom-home-growers.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/TDP-L-mushrooms081123-cha-012.jpg?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Psilocybin and psilocin, two psychoactive compounds found in \u201cmagic mushrooms,\u201d were decriminalized in Colorado last November by voters, meaning it is no longer illegal to grow, consume, possess or share a personal amount of the substances. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even though it\u2019s no longer illegal to grow, possess, consume or share \u2018shrooms within the state, few people understand exactly what\u2019s in them, Cherkoss said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe impetus here is to have people start testing mushrooms so that we can have informed conversations about what we\u2019re growing and eating and gifting and treating people with because right now we don\u2019t have the language to even start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Cherkoss said growers appear enthusiastic about the idea. So far, almost 100 people have purchased tickets to the event, and about three-quarters are growers. After the cup, <a href=\"https:\/\/pcodenver.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Psychedelic Club of Denver<\/a>, which is hosting the event, plans to make all the testing results publicly available as a resource that offers a real-life snapshot of mushrooms that currently exist within the local psychonaut community. Cherkoss hopes that will help some understand dosing in a way that\u2019s \u201cnot just based on vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cultivators seeking to participate in the competition can drop off samples in person at <a href=\"https:\/\/altitudeconsultingllc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Altitude Consulting<\/a> (3262 S. Platte River Dr., Englewood), which will analyze the mushrooms for various alkaloids and potency. Entries, which cost $40 each, will be accepted through Oct. 17 and growers can submit up to five each. (They\u2019ll also need to purchase a $35 ticket to attend the event.)<\/p>\n<p>The Psychedelic Cup will reveal the results on Nov. 2 and award prizes to those growers with the highest potency, lowest potency, and the most compounds, among other competition categories. In all, Cherkoss will hand out 12 awards \u2013 six to mushrooms in the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\/taxa\/328244-Psilocybe-cubensis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">psilocybe cubensis<\/a><\/em> species (the most well-known of the psychedelic mushrooms) and six to other species.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"> <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of other strains of psychedelic mushrooms that contain psilocybin that are not of the <em>cubensis<\/em> family,\u201d Cherkoss said, \u201cand some of them are really, really potent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The competition will not award growers based on the effects of the mushrooms \u2013 \u201cNot this year,\u201d Cherkoss said \u2013 and attendees should not consume onsite.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the ceremony, the Psychedelic Cup event will feature guest speakers, vendors, and food. While the event largely focuses on mycology and mushroom growing, it\u2019s open to the public. General admission tickets cost $35 at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copsychedeliccup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">copsychedeliccup.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Though this is a first-year event, Cherkoss hopes to make it an annual soiree and eventually to include other decriminalized psychedelic substances.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/newsletter-signup\/in-the-know\">Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Think of it like the Cannabis Cup, but for mushrooms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,9480,6811,376,2435,9597,7938,4995,77,9,8146,5019,8147,8148,1,3,7072,6923,61,1736],"tags":[2632,9485,6816,2954,2436,9602,7939,4996,2655,8151,5022,8152,8153,7073,6924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}