New fun treat for the kiddies!
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,579
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From: G-Town, TX
Dear Straight Dope:
For what reason do they put a worm in a bottle of tequila? And why is it so cool to eat it? --Rblader09
SDSTAFF WildBabe replies:
Okay, first things first: If you are buying tequila with worms in it, it's a fake. Take it back and demand a refund. The worms are only found in a particular type of mezcal, and while tequila is a type of mezcal, it's not the type with the worm in it. The kind with the worm is known as "mezcal con gusano." The worm itself, Hipopta agavis, lives in the stems of agave plants (the plant from which mezcal is made) and is a bright coral color. They are apparently fairly difficult to find, so some mezcal makers are replacing the true worm with a fake--the Atrovirens, a white worm which lives in the leaves of the agave plant. They are different in flavor, smell, and color, and the original is considered superior. You can easily tell the difference by color (and who knows, maybe by the taste). While the coral colored worms will become paler the longer they sit, they won't ever become completely washed out. The worm was originally put into mezcal as proof of alcohol content, but apparently it also alters the taste of the liquor, as well as the color and smell.
As for why it's "cool" to eat the worm, well, it used to be considered an aphrodisiac that blessed warriors with strength and virility. These days, it's pretty much just for the kick. The alcohol kick, I mean, not the kick your friends get out of seeing you suck down a dead worm.
--SDSTAFFWildBabe
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
For what reason do they put a worm in a bottle of tequila? And why is it so cool to eat it? --Rblader09
SDSTAFF WildBabe replies:
Okay, first things first: If you are buying tequila with worms in it, it's a fake. Take it back and demand a refund. The worms are only found in a particular type of mezcal, and while tequila is a type of mezcal, it's not the type with the worm in it. The kind with the worm is known as "mezcal con gusano." The worm itself, Hipopta agavis, lives in the stems of agave plants (the plant from which mezcal is made) and is a bright coral color. They are apparently fairly difficult to find, so some mezcal makers are replacing the true worm with a fake--the Atrovirens, a white worm which lives in the leaves of the agave plant. They are different in flavor, smell, and color, and the original is considered superior. You can easily tell the difference by color (and who knows, maybe by the taste). While the coral colored worms will become paler the longer they sit, they won't ever become completely washed out. The worm was originally put into mezcal as proof of alcohol content, but apparently it also alters the taste of the liquor, as well as the color and smell.
As for why it's "cool" to eat the worm, well, it used to be considered an aphrodisiac that blessed warriors with strength and virility. These days, it's pretty much just for the kick. The alcohol kick, I mean, not the kick your friends get out of seeing you suck down a dead worm.
--SDSTAFFWildBabe
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,579
Likes: 1
From: G-Town, TX
Dear Cecil:
The other night I was talking with a friend who worked at a bar in Arizona where most of the hicks got shots of tequila. As they got drunker they would ask to have "the worm" (bleagh) along with their shot. My questions are: What kind of worm is that thing? Does drinking/eating the worm make you drunker? And how did the worm end up in the tequila? --Beth L. Grover, via the Internet
Dear Beth:
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?
--CECIL ADAMS
The other night I was talking with a friend who worked at a bar in Arizona where most of the hicks got shots of tequila. As they got drunker they would ask to have "the worm" (bleagh) along with their shot. My questions are: What kind of worm is that thing? Does drinking/eating the worm make you drunker? And how did the worm end up in the tequila? --Beth L. Grover, via the Internet
Dear Beth:
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?
--CECIL ADAMS
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 42,315
Likes: 45
From: Central Massachusetts
Keep workin' hard, MC.
I didn't stay there long. I found out quickly that my desire to be a pilot was not the same thing as wanting to be an air force officer.
If you do decide to go that route, holler if you want to chat.
I didn't stay there long. I found out quickly that my desire to be a pilot was not the same thing as wanting to be an air force officer.
If you do decide to go that route, holler if you want to chat.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 8,579
Likes: 1
From: G-Town, TX
Im not sure...I want to...i really need to start being more responsible in school...
im for sure I want to be somewhere in air
started private pilot last year...flown 8.2 hr took ground school...stopped during summer....
I dunno..every pilot ive ever met/known has been tight just the whole persona appeals
im for sure I want to be somewhere in air
started private pilot last year...flown 8.2 hr
took ground school...stopped during summer....I dunno..every pilot ive ever met/known has been tight
just the whole persona appeals
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