Our Favorite Foods on Psychedelics (LSD/Acid, Shrooms and More)
More Resources: Preparing for a First Acid Trip; How to Change Your Mind, (annotated summary); Phases of an LSD Trip; Precise dosing of LSD; How to Find a Psychedelic Guide
Food can be a wonderful compliment to a psychedelic journey. Once the peak has passed, incorporating food can add a new dimension to any trip. But picking the right foods at the right time takes some trial and error.
We find that earlier in the trip we will want to eat sweet and succulent fruit, creamy high-fat treats (yogurt, ice cream, cheese), sour candy and drinks and salty snacks. Many of these foods remind us of a bright sunny day, and we think of them as the "sun foods". Later as we are coming down we move to umami-packed earthy foods and drinks, such as dark red wine, nuts, and we even smoke the occasional robust cigar. We call these the “earth foods”.
We find people who have had negative experiences trying to eat while tripping have chosen foods that are bulky in the mouth, overly chewy or mushy. Most people won’t enjoy a burrito right after peaking, for example, but a small nibble of aged cheese might be amazing.
Because we eat very small portions while tripping, we have acquired many adorable little bowls, plates and eating utensils for our psychedelic journeys. Preparing food before the trip and plating it in an elegant manner can greatly enhance the experience of eating. Details count, so take some time and prepare the food to match your personal aesthetic preferences.
I. the Sun Foods
As our peak begins to wane, we will start experimenting with food. Fruits are the easiest place to start for most people, but nuts, tea, and many other sweet or sour flavors work well.
Sweet
Fruit: Watermelon and pineapple are our favorites. But anything succulent works. Oranges, grapes, mango, papaya, guava, passion fruit, strawberries and melons are wonderful. We buy them very ripe, so they are extra sweet and juicy. Freeze some grapes or blueberries for a weird and wonderful snack.
Dipping powder for fruit: Sometimes we mix sugar and pure critic acid together, and then dip fruit in it. It makes the sweet even sweeter, while adding a sour component. Dip watermelon in it for the most amazing sour patch candy you will ever taste. Start with a ratio that tastes great sober and then fine tune while tripping. Consider brushing teeth afterwards to avoid damage from sour stuff!
Soda: Fruit flavored soda, not too sweet, like Izzy's. Ginger ale, and specialty sodas are interesting. Try in a small glass taking small sips.
Yogurt: Full fat yogurt like Noosa (which is full fat fortified with honey). Anything rich and creamy works well.
Honey: Honey with actual honey comb intact is pretty amazing. If you have access to local varieties of honey, buy a few and sample to taste the distinct differences.
Ice cream and frozen sweets: High fat content ice-cream in small doses, such as Ben & Jerry’s or something from a local ice cream shop with strong creamy flavors. Orange push up pops. Otter pops.
Sour
Candy: Sour Patch Kids, any sour candy. Sweet candy like chocolate tends to work better late in the trip. But consider Pop Rocks for weirdness (just start with a few).
Pickles, especially cornichons, or fancy custom pickled veggies.
Canned three bean salad, sour and sweet in every bite.
Savory / Umami
Nuts: Any nuts work, but toasted nuts, smoked nuts and nuts that come with lime salt or spicy salt work best, bringing an intensity of flavor. A single nut at a time can fill the senses.
Tea: Hot or cold, Homemade chai, not too sweet, can be amazingly complex and wonderful. Be mindful to have a very balanced chai, or make a few variations before your trip to see what works best for you.
Doritos, Pringles, or similar strongly flavored fatty and salty snack.
II. the Earth Foods
Sweet
Port and sweet wines.
Dark chocolate, especially intense and complex chocolate.
Bitter
Coffee: Fresh espresso or bold black coffee.
Savory / Umami
Cheese: Strong cheese, blue cheese, farmhouse cheddar, roquefort, parmesan and other hard strong varieties and feta. Milder cheese works well too, but we prefer something strong enough that a very small amount goes a long way.
Salami and other dried meat.
Hard alcohol: Tequila, Spicy Tequila (infuse some with some hot peppers), complex botanical gin, smokey peated whiskey such as an Ardbeg
Wine: Full bodied red wine, especially earthy wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. We also enjoy complex Port wines.
Cigars, excellent quality dark robustos, with flavors of chocolate, nuts, leather, or coffee.
3. Post Trip Nurishment
While we eat for hours after the peak, the quantity of each bite tends to be tiny. By the time the psychedelic has is gone, we are usually ready for a real meal.
High quality ramen is amazing, as are soups in general. A light pasta dish works well. We generally don’t enjoy meat, other than incidental to the dish (our favorite ramen dish includes some finely ground meat). We prefer food that doesn’t involve much chewing at all. If we have really come fully down, we will eat high quality pizza, and some of our friends swear by any delivery pizza for post-experience.