Golden Teacher Mushrooms, the real origin story of the magic mushroom strain.
Golden teacher is the most well known magic mushroom strain in the world. Chances are if you read about Psilocybin active mushrooms, Golden Teacher will be one of the first names to hear. They are well-known for their bright yellow caps and unique stem pattern which distinguishes them from other psilocybin mushrooms you may have seen.
The origin story about this mystical fungi species started in Holyoke community college located in Massachusetts. Professor William Hutchinson was the lead professor in the Horticulture Department during the early 1990’s at Holyoke Community College. At the time Professor Hutchinson was collecting rare bird orchids in Guyana at a rare bird Sanctuary named Guiana Amazonian Park. Guyana is located in South America, the area is defined by dense rainforest and is culturally connected to the Caribbean.
While collecting orchids in the sanctuary the professor noticed a bright golden mushroom growing in the brush. The spore prints were later documented in his notes as a wild grown Psilocybe Cubensis. After returning home from this research excursion, professor Hutchinson shared his finding of the magic mushroom spores with one of his horticulture students.
The student who was lucky enough to be attending the program received a sample of the psilocybe mushroom spore from his favorite teacher and started his own journey into mycology. After years of learning how to grow magic mushrooms from this spore print, the name for this infamous variety came to be, the golden teacher, named after Professor Hutchinson. He was the only person to our knowledge that received the actual print, grown in Guyana.
The humble student went on to became an avid mycologist collecting samples all over the Caribbean and other parts of the world. Making a career out of this mycology interest, He then formed one of the first online sources where people can buy magic mushroom spore prints for microscopic and at-home use. Eventually this evolved to selling liquid suspended mycology samples and grow kits to help share this strain of magic mushroom with the world.
Two years later, he released the first advertisement for Golden Teacher mushroom grow kits in the classified section of 1996 July High Times Magazine, selling over 300 kits in 2 months. “my kits back then went for 35$ for 12 jars and one 12 cc syringe.. back in 1996.”
Article from High Times 1996 issue
The only previous claims about the origin of Golden Teacher were made by Ryche Hawk on his website the hawks eye which has been removed at this point. Other stories point to the golden teacher being found in cow dung on a field in Georgia. All of these stories may be true to the founders of them, but this is the oldest known story of how these mushrooms have spread all the way from Amazonia to North America.
The fact that they are relatively easy to grow has made sure that this strain of magic mushrooms remains one of the most popular varieties of psychedelic shrooms on the market today. All thanks to one curious student and his "Golden Teacher."