How to Store Shrooms

If magic mushrooms aren’t stored properly, they become highly susceptible to mold or bacteria.

Even if they don’t rot, the active ingredients in the mushrooms will break down over time — causing your shrooms’ potency to drop.

If you want to protect your mushrooms long-term and maintain their potency — you’ll need to learn how to store them properly.

Fortunately, magic mushroom storage isn’t complicated, and it doesn’t need to be expensive. You can store your mushrooms for a long time using simple household items like mason jars or ziplock bags.

Here’s everything you need to know about storing both dried and fresh magic mushrooms and truffles.

Key Takeaways

Store your shrooms with a desiccant (you can reuse silica packs from food packaging or buy some)
Store your shrooms with an O2 absorber if you intend to store them longer than six months
Always store dried shrooms in an airtight container
Never store fresh shrooms in an airtight container
Keep your mushrooms in a cool, dry, dark location for best results
Always write the date you stored the shrooms on the container

How Long Will Shrooms Remain Viable In Storage?

Fresh magic mushrooms will start to rot after just a few days if you don’t store them properly. If you store them in the fridge in a brown paper bag, you might be able to store fresh shrooms for up to 10 days — but rarely any longer than this.

Fresh magic truffles will store for longer — usually lasting between 2 and three months in the fridge.

Dried mushrooms and truffles will last the longest (a year or more). They don’t need to be refrigerated.

Properly storing magic mushrooms can make the difference from having a three-month shelf-life (non-airtight container) — to surviving two years or longer (vacuum-sealed bags with desiccant and O2 absorber).

Even if you don’t plan to store your mushies for two years, you’ll want to make sure they’re stored properly to minimize the loss of potency.

There are four main factors that will cause your shrooms to rot, break down, and lose their potency. If you can minimize all four of these factors, you’re going to get a much longer shelf life from your shrooms:

Oxygen
Heat
UV light
Mold & bacteria

6 Ways To Store Magic Mushrooms (Short-Term & Long-Term Storage)

There are many ways to store magic mushrooms.

If you want to get the maximum shelf-life from your shrooms — use a vacuum sealer with an oxygen absorber and desiccant and keep it in the freezer. You can store your shrooms for many years with this method.

1. How to Store Magic Mushrooms in Mason Jars

(6–12 months storage)

You can easily store your dried magic mushrooms in a mason jar.

The method is hands down the simplest and cheapest method — you can usually pick up a case of mason jars for just a couple of bucks. They’re designed to create an airtight seal to keep oxygen out of your container and slow the oxidation process that will degrade the potency of your shrooms.

For best results, store your mushroom mason jars in a cool, dry, dark place — such as a basement or cupboard. You can usually get around six months of storage with this method without any noticeable loss of potency. After this point, the shrooms will start to lose their potency.

By the 12 month mark, the shrooms will likely remain active, but there will be a noticeable drop in potency compared to mushrooms stored using more advanced techniques.

Tips for storing mushrooms in mason jars:

Try and fill the mason jar as full as possible to reduce the amount of air contained inside
Use oxygen absorbers and desiccants to prolong the shelf-life even further
Always store mason jars out of direct light, and in a part of your home that’s cool and dry (bathrooms are a bad idea)
Make sure the jar is sealed tight before you put it away for storage
Avoid opening your mason jars as much as possible to avoid letting in fresh oxygen or potential contaminants

2. How To Store Magic Mushrooms in Ziplock Bags

(6-12 months storage)

Ziplock bags offer a similar level of protection as mason jars — but with some advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage of a ziplock bag is that you can squeeze out a good portion of the air in the bag before you seal it up. This will reduce the amount of oxygen inside that could potentially damage them and reduce the potency.

The downside of ziplock bags is that they can sometimes leak. If you don’t seal them up tightly or if a piece of mushroom gets caught in the seal, it can allow fresh oxygen to enter the bag while in storage — dramatically reducing the shelf-life.

Many people will first seal their shrooms in a ziplock bag and then place this in a mason jar for storage. The more layers of protection, the better.

Tips for storing mushrooms in ziplock bags:

Use high-quality ziplock bags (double sealed and thicker plastic is ideal)
Double bag your shrooms to be extra airtight
Toss an oxygen absorber and desiccant to extend the shelf-life even further
Squeeze as much of the air out of the bag as possible before storing it for extended periods
Always keep your ziplock bag in a cool, dry, dark location

3. How to Store Magic Mushrooms in Chocolate

(6–18 months storage)

Chocolate is a surprisingly great tool for preservation. You can make your own psilocybin chocolates by grinding your dried shrooms into a powder, melting some chocolate on the stove (dark chocolate stores the longest), and mixing in your powdered mushrooms as the chocolate is cooling.

It’s important not to heat the mushrooms directly as this will inadvertently damage the active ingredients and defeat the purpose of storing them this way in the first place. Add the powder as the chocolate is cooling down, and you’ll avoid damaging the psilocybin.

Chocolate will seal the magic mushrooms suspended inside from the elements. It blocks UV light and oxygen, which are the primary causes for mushrooms to go bad.

Tips for storing magic mushrooms in chocolate:

Add the powdered shrooms as the chocolate is cooling (don’t heat them directly)
Wrap each chocolate in tin foil and store in an airtight container in the fridge
Avoid opening the chocolates or touching them before you’re ready to eat them
Opt for dark chocolate with the least amount of sugar possible to get the longest shelf-life

4. How To Store Magic Mushrooms Using Vacuum Sealed Bags

(1–2 years storage or longer)

Vacuum sealed bags are the next evolution of the ziplock bag. They have the added step of removing all the air from the bag and sealing it with heat. They won’t leak, and they protect the shrooms from oxygen and humidity.

If you use mylar vacuum sealer bags, you’ll give them additional protection against UV light.

In order to vacuum seal your shrooms, you’ll need a vacuum sealer and some vacuum sealer bags. You can also just buy the bags and use a hair straightener to heat seal them, but you’ll lose the benefit of sealing them in a vacuum.

If you’re going to go this route, you might as well get a couple of oxygen absorbent packs and some desiccant or silica to provide even greater protection from humidity and oxygen. You can keep your vacuum-sealed bags in the fridge or freezer for maximum shelf-life — just avoid taking them in and out of the freezer. Only pull them out when you intend to use them.

Using this method, you’ll be able to store any amount of mushrooms for many years to come. It’s considered the gold standard for long-term dry food storage.

Tips for storing magic mushrooms with a vacuum sealer:

Buy mylar vacuum sealer bags to protect against UV radiation
Make sure you’re familiar with how to use your vacuum sealer before you start
Include oxygen and humidity absorbent packs with your shrooms before you seal it
Even when vacuum-sealed, you should store your shrooms in a cool, dry, dark place

5. How To Store Magic Mushrooms In Honey

(Over 18 months storage)

Honey is an excellent preserver. While the honey you pick up at your local grocery store will usually suggest a best-before date of around 2 years, honey will store for much, much longer than this.

Samples of honey have been found in ancient tombs that remain viable today.

You can use honey as a preservative for your magic mushrooms by placing them in an empty mason jar and then covering the whole bunch in fresh, organic honey. Make sure the honey covers the mushrooms by at least 2 cm (½ inch). Any exposed mushrooms will rot.

Make sure to opt for honey with the least amount of filtration possible. Many of the so-called “impurities” companies will remove from raw honey are responsible for its long shelf life. Your honey should be thick and somewhat cloudy — rather than runny and clear-golden colored.

You can choose to powder your mushrooms first or place them in the jar whole. Either way will work, but it’s important for both methods to remove any debris or dirt before storing them. It’s also critical that there is no humidity in the mushrooms at all, or they’re going to go bad. Only perfectly dry mushrooms will work for this method.

While in storage, the active ingredients in the mushrooms will diffuse into the honey. When it comes time to use it, you can simply eat the honey directly for the psychoactive effects.

Tips for storing mushrooms in honey:

Make sure the mushies are completely dry before storing them
Opt for raw, unfiltered honey
Make sure the shrooms are completely covered by honey — you may need to top it up a few times as the dried shrooms absorb some of the honey
Clean the mushrooms with a little brush to remove any debris before you store it
Keep the honey in a cool, dark, dry location (but not in the freezer)

6. How To Store Magic Mushroom Capsules & Microdoses

(6–12 months storage)

Magic mushrooms don’t taste very good — which is why many people are buying their magic mushrooms in capsule form or creating their own capsules at home. Capsules are also the most common form you’ll find magic mushroom microdoses.

Capsules also do a great job at preserving your magic mushrooms for extended periods of time — but only if a few conditions are met.

The most important aspect of storing magic mushrooms in capsules is that you ensure every capsule is as full as possible. If there’s empty space in the capsule, it will expose the contents to oxygen — causing them to degrade much faster.

In general, you can store capsules for 6–12 months without any noticeable loss of potency.

That is, as long as you’re keeping them in an airtight container, in a cool, dry, dark place — just like you should be doing for all mushrooms regardless of the format.

If you add oxygen absorbers and desiccants to the container you’re storing them in, you may be able to get 12 months or more out of them without any significant drop in potency.

Tips for storing magic mushrooms in capsules:

If making your own capsules, make sure each cap is completely full to eliminate as much oxygen as possible (this could mean using fillers like brown rice flour to take up the empty space)
Store your capsules in an airtight container with an oxygen absorber and desiccant for best results
Make sure the mushrooms and any other ingredients you include in your recipe are completely dry before making the capsules

How to Store Fresh Magic Mushrooms

Fresh magic mushrooms are hard to come by — so it’s important you’re familiar with proper storage techniques to avoid wasting them.

Mushrooms will mold and rot in just a few days if they aren’t kept in the fridge. Even in the fridge, fresh shrooms will only last around five days, with a maximum of about ten days.

If you plan to use them within this timeframe, you can store them in a brown paper bag the same way you would store mushrooms from the grocery store. If you keep fresh shrooms in an airtight container, they’ll rot much more quickly because of the high humidity levels. Mushrooms consist of about 80% water — so if the humidity they release isn’t allowed to escape, it will create the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

You can also store your fresh shrooms in lemon juice to offer further protection against mold and bacteria — but your shrooms will still go bad within two weeks using this method.

If you intend to keep your shrooms for longer — you’re going to need to dry them out. There’s no way around it.

Here are three methods for drying fresh shrooms for storage:

1. Air Drying

This is the simplest method. All you need is a paper towel and a location with good airflow.

All you have to do is place your shrooms on the paper towel and leave them like that for a couple of days. Depending on the ambient humidity, your shrooms will be completely dry within about 72 hours.

You can use a small fan to speed this process up even further if you’re living in a place with higher ambient humidity levels.

If you live in the tropics, or other particularly humid parts of the world, this method may not work for you. If your mushies aren’t feeling dry by the second day, they could start to rot.

Pros and Cons of Air Drying Magic Mushrooms:

PRO — virtually free method of drying shrooms
CON — doesn’t work in places with high ambient humidity
CON — drying can take up to 3 days to complete
CON — open-air drying can lead to rotting if you’re not careful

2. Dehydration

The next best method for drying shrooms is to use a food dehydrator.

You can find small dehydrators for cheap on Amazon or local big box stores. These devices work by ensuring consistent airflow and may even add a little bit of heat to help dry the air out before passing it over the shrooms.

These machines will usually dry your shrooms out entirely within 24 hours.

Pros and Cons of Dehydrating Magic Mushrooms:

PRO — highly effective means of drying shrooms as quickly as possible
PRO — this method works even in areas with high ambient humidity levels
CON — dehydrators add additional costs
CON — some dehydrators may add too much heat (damaging the mushrooms)

3. Freeze Drying

Freeze drying is the ultimate method of preserving fresh food, and they work great for magic mushrooms too.

The freeze-drying process is very complicated, and the machines are very expensive. Even a small freeze drying machine can cost up to a few hundred bucks. Larger machines easily run a few thousand dollars.

This method is overkill for most people, but it’s going to offer the greatest level of preservation possible while keeping the natural flavor and potency intact. You can even rehydrate freeze-dried mushrooms later to produce shrooms with nearly the same texture as the freshly picked mushies.

Pros and Cons of Freeze Drying Magic Mushrooms:

PRO — offers the greatest level of preservation
PRO — maintains the original textures and potency of the mushrooms
CON — freeze-drying machines are very expensive

How to Store Magic Truffles

A magic truffle is the below-ground masses of fungi mycelium — rather than the above-ground fruiting bodies.

Only a few species of magic mushrooms will even form truffles, and they tend to be milder than the fruiting bodies of species like Psilocybe cubensis.

However, some people prefer the milder effects of truffles. Others live in parts of the world where truffles are the only legal form of psilocybin available.

Storing magic truffles follows the same methods as outlines for magic mushrooms.

The main difference with truffles is that they have a longer shelf-life while fresh. If stored in an airtight container, you can keep them in the fridge for 2 or 3 months without any issues.

If you intend to keep your truffles in storage for a long time, you’ll need to dry them out and store them in a mason jar, ziplock, or vacuum-sealed bag.

How to Store Magic Mushroom Tea

You can store brewed magic mushroom tea for later by keeping it in an airtight container, such as a mason jar, in the fridge. This will only last about a week before it goes bad — sometimes even less.

You’ll know if your tea has gone bad when it develops a nasty funky smell. Magic mushroom tea already smells a bit funky, but it shouldn’t smell rancid or rotting. There’s a very distinct difference between the funkiness of a fresh mushroom tea and mushroom tea that’s gone bad.

If it stinks, don’t drink it.

In order to get the longest shelf life possible, you can add lemon juice to your tea. The more lemon you add, the better.

It also helps to avoid drinking directly from the container you intend to store your tea in. instead, pour the tea into separate cups to avoid contaminating it with bacteria from your mouth. Likewise, avoid touching the inside of the lid or the rim of the container to avoid introducing potential contaminants to the jar.

How Do I Tell If My Shrooms Went Bad?

You’ll know right away if fresh mushrooms went bad. They’ll have a nasty musty odor, and you’ll likely see blue or green fuzzy growths on the caps and stem. Some white fuzziness on the stems is normal — this is the mycelial threads from the fungi trying to grow outwards from the harvested mushrooms.

For dried mushrooms, it’s a little bit more difficult. Clear indications, such as green or blue mold growth, moisture or sogginess, and an awful smell are obvious signs your shrooms went bad. It’s no longer safe to use shrooms that look like this.

If you store your mushrooms correctly, they will remain edible for many, many years. It’s more likely your shrooms will lose their potency than it is for them to go moldy if stored correctly. If you eat your stored mushrooms beyond their “expiration date”, they might just not work. As long as they’re not moldy, they’re very unlikely to make you feel ill.

Final Thoughts: How Long Will Magic Mushrooms Store?

Storing magic mushrooms doesn’t need to be complicated. Humans have been preserving food and medicine for centuries by simply drying it out and keeping it in a cool, dark, and dry location. Modern technology makes achieving this super simple.

The easiest method is to place your dried mushrooms in a mason jar or ziplock bag. Seal it up and keep it in a cupboard or box to keep it out of the light. This method will keep your shrooms viable for six months or longer, no problem.

If you want to store them even longer than this, you can use a vacuum sealer with some oxygen absorbent packs, preserve them with honey, or keep them in a sealed bag in the freezer.

Fresh mushrooms will only keep for about a week in the fridge, so unless you’re going to use them right away, you’ll want to dry them out ASAP.