Why is there a worm in some bottles of tequila? 10 points for the first, correct answer!?

Question

Tequila is one of my favorite drinks...some comes with a worm, some do not. The best one's do! There is a legitimate reason, for the worm. If you can guess or know the answer, first respondent gets the big points.

Answer 1

You probably think this is some ancient Mexican tradition, right? Not unless your idea of ancient is 1950. We even know who invented the practice. Various reasons are given for it, but I say it all boils down to: Let's see if we can get the gringos to eat worms.

First let's get a few things straight. There's no worm in tequila, or at least there isn't supposed to be. Purists (hah!) say the worm belongs only in a related product, mescal. Strictly speaking, mescal is a generic term meaning any distillate of the many species of agave (or maguey) plant, tequila included. Today, however, mescal is popularly understood to mean a product bottled in the region around the city of Oaxaca. For years this stuff was basically home-brewed firewater consumed by the locals, but in 1950, Mexico City entrepreneur Jacobo Lozano Paez hit on the idea of putting a worm in each bottle as a marketing gimmick. Stroke of genius, eh? I don't get it either, but that's what separates us from the visionaries.

The critter in question is the agave worm, which is actually a butterfly larva. The worms bore into the agave plant's pineapplelike heart, and quite a few get cooked up in the brew used to make mescal. Far from being grossed out, Jacobo concluded that the worm was an essential component of the liquor's flavor and color. He may also have figured, Hey, mescal is about as palatable as paint remover, and the only people who are going to drink this stuff are macho lunatics, so why not take it to the max? In fairness, the worms were also said to have aphrodisiac properties, and worms and bugs are sometimes consumed in Mexico as a delicacy. (Supposedly this dates back to the Aztecs.) At any rate, the ploy worked and the worm in the bottle is now a firmly established tradition.

The genuine agave worm is a bright coral color, which fades to pink in the bottle. Some bottlers substitute a species of white worm that lives in the leaves of the agave plant. Connoisseurs complain that the white worm isn't as tasty as the red one, which to me is like complaining that your soup contains the wrong species of fly. To me the whole thing seems pretty silly. I've had a sip or three of mescal in my day, and my feeling is, if you want to get sick, who needs a worm?

Answer 2

There is no worm in Mexican-bottled tequila. Yes, some American-bottled brand(s) put one in their bottle to impress the gringos and boost sales, but it's only a marketing ploy and not a Mexican tradition. There is a worm - called a gusano, properly a butterfly caterpillar (Hipopta Agavis) - in some types of mezcal (but not all). You may also get a small bag of 'worm salt' - dried gusano, salt and chile powder tied to a mezcal bottle.

The worm-in-the-bottle myth is old and tired. The truth has been broadcast and expounded for years by the cognoscenti of tequila, in newspapers, magazines and on the Net. There should be no need to defend tequila; we should not have to dispel this myth further. It is merely an urban legend.

Is the worm even a traditional element in mezcal production? Not according to Del Maguey Mezcal producers: they say it's a recent development, a marketing ploy that appeared only in the 1940s to try and get more attention on mezcal - and they should know. It's worth reading their story at: www.mezcal.com/worms.html.

There are two types of gusano in mezcal: the red (gusano rojo - considered superior because it lives in the root and heart of the maguey) and the less-prized white or gold (gusano de oro), which lives on the leaves. The red gusano turns pale in the mezcal, the gold turns ashen-grey. Both larvae are commonly eaten as food and are sold in Zapotec markets.

Yes, you're supposed to eat the worm in mezcal. Don't worry: it's quite well pickled and free of pesticides (they're often raised just for use in mezcal, cooked and pickled in alcohol for a year). But dispel any idea it has any magical or psychotropic properties, that it's an aphrodisiac or the key to an 'unseen world.' It's merely protein and alcohol - but it's very rich in imagery.

Answer 3

Actually, tequila does not have a worm. Some Mezcal does, the practice started to prove that the Mezcal contained agave, and that the alcohol content was enough to pickle the worm and not dissolve it (actually it is not a worm but the larva of a moth that lives off the agave) it was true mezcal. Also called Mezcal con Gusano, the worm is only left in per tradition now. Fine Mezcal does not deem it necessary to include the worm. I have never seen a tequila, especially a fine teqiula with a worm and I have been in the business for years.

Answer 4

Tequila doesn't have a worm in it. Mescal does. Though they are both distilled from agave. Mescal technically only comes from Oaxaca.

Tequila is only made from the blue agave.

Second, it's not really a worm, it's the larvae of a butterfly.

What you've probably heard is that it was a test of the distillate's purity. if the "worm" wasn't decayed it was not watered down. That's not really true, it was just a marketing ploy someone thought up in the 50's.

Answer 5

First of all, worms are not normally found in Tequila. They are found in bottles of Mezcal, which is made from a different agave:

From Wikipedia:
"Spirits labeled "Mezcal" are made from other agave plants and are not part of the Tequila family."

As for the worm, this is what Wikipedia states:
(begin citation)
The worm in the mezcal bottle is a marketing gimmick. The worm is actually the caterpillar Hypopta agavis. The originator of this practice was a man named Jacobo Lozano Páez. In 1940, while tasting prepared agave, he and his partner found that the worm changed the taste of the agave. (Agave worms are sometimes found in the piña after harvesting, a sign of badly chosen, infested, agave). The worm soon took on another use as well, as a proof of potency. If the worm was decayed inside the bottle, it could be assumed the mezcal had been watered down. Brands of mezcal that contain the worm include 'Oro de Oaxaca', 'Gusano de Oro', 'Gusano Rojo', 'Monte Alban', and 'Dos Gusanos'.

When a worm is included this is known as 'Con Gusano', which means 'with worm'
(end citation)

Answer 6

I heard it's a custom from back in the day when bootleggers would pawn off water as tequila. So they started dropping a worm into the bottle. If the worm died, it was tequila and not water.

Answer 7

protein , probably drunk people needed dinner and only enough money for tequila, forgot dinner anyway, a small meal there in that worm maybe

Marketing purposes now I think, cheap tequila, they don't even bother with the worm.

Maybe like lighting a match to establish proof spirits. If the worm dies in a few seconds, its strong enough.

Answer 8

No worm in Tequila...

If you like tequila try Casa Noble, the best!

Answer 9

Someone once told me - when I was VERY young! - that when bottles of alcoholic drinks have 'worm' type critters in, it means that the worm has hallucinogenic properties ...

Allegedly, when you drink it you don't just get drunk, you get stoned out of your mind too...! (Or do you have to EAT the worm to get stoned..? I'm not sure now!)

Answer 10

i think the worms make the tequila taste good.