The Tidal Wave mushroom—popular, potent, and a bit weird—is the love child of the two Psilocybe cubensis strains known as Penis Envy and B+. It’s an unstable hybrid that’s known for a variety of odd mutations—including the sporeless “blob” or “brain-shaped” Enigma mutation that won the 2021 Psilocybin Cup (now known as the Hyphae Cup) hosted by Hyphae Labs with an astronomical—and previously unheard of—3.8 percent tryptamine content. Doma Nunzio, mycologist and founder of the spore and testing company Magic Myco is credited with first hybridization Penis Envy (PE) and B+ to create Tidal Wave in 2017 (spelled Tidalwave on their website). Magic Myco describes the cross as “our first hybrid fusion project.” Many iterations later, at least eleven Tidal Wave varieties are in circulation from Magic Myco—bearing names like Tidalwave 2, Tidalwave 3 Beast, and Tidalwave BXO.
Tidal Wave mushrooms may owe their name to the “wavy,” water-like edges on the bottom of mature caps, but—as the name implies—these mushrooms can also pack a punch and have a reputation among psychonauts for their potent psychedelic effects. Some magic mushroom species have higher concentrations of tryptamines—P. semilanceata, or Liberty caps, usually test higher than P. cubensis mushrooms, for example. P. cubensis tend to clock in at around one percent, or a little lower, on average, tryptamine content. Lebowe and his team have been isolating genetics at Spores Lab for years in effort to increase potency. “The highest test result we’ve ever received was about 2.4 percent content,” he says—so the Tidal Wave Enigma sample that took the 2021 Psilocybin Cup with 3.82 percent tryptamines attracted a lot of attention. In fact, “it could be said that a variation of Tidal Wave is the most potent cubensis mushroom ever recorded in history,” says Lebowe.
But despite this astonishing number, non-mutated varieties of Tidal Wave mushrooms can measure much lower in tryptamine content—more akin to what you’d expect for an average or above-average P. cubensis. With Tidal Wave mushrooms, you can expect relatively high potency and intense psychedelic effects. “It’s one of our more popular strains, for sure,” says Lebowe.
