Sorry, L.A. Times, But Cacao Isn’t Ayahuasca

Welcome back to The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter serving up news, culture, and independent journalism about psychedelics straight to your inbox. 

Today’s stories are about a new restaurant in Washington, D.C. that’s built its aesthetic and menu around psilocybin mushroom ceremonies. Is it celebrating or appropriating culture? We will let you decide. Our other story is about the L.A. Times’ recent feature comparing cacao to…ayahuasca? We’ll let you read our take on it below. Keep scrolling, and you’ll find stories on how to navigate the noisiness from our world with heart, a piece on the best art to observe while on mushrooms, and how to find a psychedelic retreat that’s right for you.

Happy weekend 🌈

Mary Carreón
Senior Editor

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A Psychedelic Mushroom Themed Restaurant Opens in D.C. But At What Cost?

Sagrada Mia recreates a psilocybin mushroom journey through food. But is it honoring tradition or just repackaging it for profit?

While there’s no psilocybin on the menu at Sagrada Mia, that hasn’t stopped the newly opened D.C. tasting room from promising an experience designed to mirror a mushroom journey. Tucked above Mi Vida on 14th Street, the concept — backed by Knead Hospitality + Design — leans into mushroom ceremonies while offering a portion of proceeds to the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University.

The eight-course tasting menu (which costs $111 per person) is supposed to be structured like a guided journey: Dishes unfurl in stages meant to evoke the arc of a trip, from intention-setting to peak experience to integration. Options include vegan and “flexitarian” options, with beverage pairings ranging from alcohol to non-alcoholic elixirs to cacao drinks. Functional mushrooms are, of course, on the menu, too. Guests are encouraged to move through the space, interacting with the food in a tactile and immersive way.

For Knead’s co-founder Michael Reginbogin, this wellness restaurant concept is personal. The inspiration came from a psilocybin retreat that upended his understanding of presence. “It changed my world,” he tells Axios.

He also told Axios that he’s planning to create Sagrada Mia Sanctuary, an urban wellness space that might incorporate sound baths, massage, or immersive therapies — but, for now, no psychedelics. “We’re not a facilitator of medicine,” Reginbogin says. “We’re a facilitator of experience.”

All of this begs the question: Is Sagrada Mia genuinely honoring the Indigenous traditions it draws from, or just capitalizing on them? And shouldn’t the proceeds go to Indigenous communities in conjunction with (or instead of!) Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research? (No shade to Johns Hopkins, of course.)

The line between celebration and appropriation is already thin. It becomes even blurrier, however, when viewed through the lens of wellness culture, which has long profited from extracting and repackaging Indigenous traditions for commercial gain. We wouldn’t be doing our job if we failed to point that out.

No, Cacao Is Not “Ayahuasca-Lite”

A story by the L.A. Times recently equated cacao with ayahuasca, which isn’t only inaccurate, it’s also a textbook example of parachute reporting missing the bigger picture.

The Los Angeles Times is known for its sharp investigative work and news reporting, but every now and then, even prestigious publications miss the mark. Their latest feature on cacao ceremonies in Los Angeles — framed as “ayahuasca-lite” experiences — is one of those flops. 

Let’s be clear: Cacao is not, in any way, a substitute for ayahuasca, which is implied in the story. It doesn’t induce visions, it won’t make you purge, and it certainly won’t take you on a six-hour ancestral journey. What are a few things the two have in common? They’re both brown. They are consumed in ceremonies. They have long histories of Indigenous use. That’s basically it. Equating cacao with ayahuasca is sort of like comparing a cup of hot chocolate to mezcal. No one would ever do that! It also severely reduces cacao’s cultural and spiritual significance to yet another wellness trend.

Like so many Indigenous plant medicines (including ayahuasca), cacao is rapidly being commodified and is often divorced from its original context. Wellness brands slap “ceremonial-grade” on cacao packaging (which, to be clear, IS JUST MARKETING), charging a premium without acknowledging or giving back to the communities that have stewarded the plant for centuries. Meanwhile, the global cacao supply is in crisis due to climate change, something the article neglects to address entirely.

We understand the nuances and challenges of reporting at legacy publications — journalists are rarely assigned to report on one niche. They report on dozens of issues, meaning they parachute into all kinds of cultural movements, spaces, disasters, etcetera, and report from the surface, often lacking all context. This cacao story is an example of how that approach massively fails. It leaves critical gaps, reinforces inaccuracies, and misconstrues the entire purpose of the plant.

It’s a brutal time in media right now — we understand this intimately. We know the L.A. Times is not exempt from wondering how the hell it’s going to stay afloat in an industry that’s in freefall. But a publication that’s been around for 142 years should do better. Full stop. Especially after being bought by a billionaire (they love wellness and psychedelics culture!) Tapping experts, Indigenous voices, and seasoned journalists who report on the space for a living — for fact-checking or guidance — should be standard. DoubleBlind is more than willing to help the L.A. Times avoid blatant contextual reporting missteps like this. When legacy publications get it right, we all benefit. Alas, here we are.

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💓 Kanna isn’t anything like a classic psychedelic, but it is undoubtedly psychoactive. This indigenous South African plant medicine may be the plant medicine our disconnected culture desperately needs. Read more about how kanna works here

🌱 The afterglow of an ayahuasca ceremony can be truly beautiful. Fresh insights, sharpened senses, and a palpable sense of connection to the world can make you feel reborn…at least for a while. Sustaining and nurturing this precious openness amid the pressures of daily life, however, can be… challenging. Here are some tips to stay connected to the medicine. 

🖼️ Wine and cheese. Peanut butter and jelly. Mushrooms and this psychedelic art.

🤔 There are more options than ever to work with psychedelics. Retreats, solo journeys with curated playlist, microdosing, hikrodosing, ketamine clinics, therapy — it can be hard to make sense of it all. Make an informed choice with our breakdown of your psychedelic options here

DoubleBlind Digs

Here are today’s recommendations to help you live more psychedelically… 

1. April 8-10, Join Fungi Academy for the Sacred Mycology Summit. It’s a FREE 3-day summit bringing together mycology, psychedelics, and permaculture. Register today and get instant access to 3 bonus masterclasses.
   

2. Kanna Extract makes the most potent kanna products in the world. Grown in South Africa in partnership with indigenous San stewards, their products contain up to 18% alkaloids (this is absurdly high). Check out their line of Kanna edibles, smokeables, and snortables here.
   

3. It began as a personal journey to heal from devastating spinal injuries without pharmaceuticals. Now, they make amazing herbal products with medicinal mushrooms, CBD, adaptogens, and more. Shop Plant People’s amazing gummies, chews, tinctures, and more here.
   

4. Growing mushrooms can yield more than just a reliable supply of psychedelic medicine. Done mindfully, it nurtures a relationship with the mushroom itself. This mycologist-written Mushroom Cultivation Journal transforms the complex process of growing mushrooms into an accessible, intentional, and reflective process.

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Paul Stamet’s Mushroom Routine

Want to know how a mushroom guru microdoses? Check out Paul Stamet’s personal protocol in this short video.