A team of molecular biologists study the chemical composition of mezcal and tequila. Given how often Ive been told that gusanos are an aphrodisiac, it doesnt take a great leap to imagine that someone, somewhere, would have thrown some gusanos into their finished mezcal to make a medicinal extract for erectile dysfunction vino de Viagra, if you will. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Why is There a Worm in Mezcal & Tequila? It's fiery stuff, real rotgut, with a worm floating in the bottom of the bottle -- at least, that's what most people think. They found that none of them had an ethyl carbamate concentration that exceeded the international safety guideline of less than 0.15 mg/L. The mezcal worm began as a way to distinguish mezcal from tequila and was transformed into an added element of . The answer to that question is a matter of quality, not safety, assuming proper storage conditions - when properly stored, a bottle of mezcal has an indefinite shelf life, even after it has been opened. Especialista en vinos y espirituosos con experiencia en educacin y consultora comercial. So, technically, it is a mezcal worm, not a tequila worm, because it is only found lying there dead in the bottom of a bottle of mezcal. Most likely the gusano wormed its way into these bottles to remind us that Mexicos culinary history is diverse and conflictive, informed by religion, local and global markets, regional taste, and sheer improvisation. The former Breaking Bad co-leads are now liquor brand co-founders, bringing a little bit of Oaxaca to your bar cart with Dos Hombres mezcal. Here are ten of the best mezcals for sipping. Yola Mezcal is made of espadn, the only type of agave besides blue agave (which is what tequila is made out of) that can be farmed. Chemically, mezcal and tequila are both similar and different. But why the gusano? In a paper published in the journal RSC Advances, a team of researchers led by Dr. Anees Ahmed Khalil at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad, Pakistan, documented eugenol's ability to prevent oxygen molecules from splitting and to "scavenge" (bind to) free radicals and prevent oxidative stress in the body. Hey Nick. So, if your friends dare you to eat the gusano de maguey after a night of drinking and you're feeling particularly bold (or maybe just drunk), don't be afraid to give it a try. Traditionally the word "mezcal" has been used generally in Mexico for all agave spirits and it continues to be used for many . They are aged in oak barrels and the worm intensifies their aromatic profile. According to the Mayo Clinic, congeners are compounds that increase the likelihood and severity of a hangover. We know that Mezcal with a worm is an intriging topic and well give you some advise because, Yes, of course! We werent sure what to expect from this tasting, but wed hypothesized that the air in the bottle would indeed have some impact on the mezcal after seven months. 14 had slight differences from the different aging. Limonene, one of the terpenes found in mezcal, could have cancer-fighting properties. Eating the worm has neither hallucinogenic nor aphrodisiac effects: but, if you have finished the entire Mezcal bottle to get the worm out and eat it, you are most likely unable to behave appropriately by this point. Of those, slightly more than half (51 percent) reported also feeling depressed, and 61 percent reported feelings of anxiety. The best one seemed to turn hot/alcoholic and the worst that started out this way seemed to open up more. Prized as a source of protein since Pre-Hispanic times, the larvae live in the agave plants used to make tequila and mezcal. Unraveling mezcal's mysteries with chemistry is all well and good, but for De Len, there are some pleasures that just can't be explained. The fat and juices from the chicken add a savory undertone to the mezcal, while collagen from the meat gives it a more "robust mouthfeel.". Well, there is a larva in most of the bottles of mezcal. Mezcal Reviews on Twitter Acetaldehyde is present in a distilled mezcal. One caveat: Sipping straight mezcal is safe, but, if you want to try a mezcal cocktail, you'll need to double-check that the other ingredients are also gluten-free. It's free. The red worm is typically considered tastier. Very sweet. 99K views, 7.8K likes, 645 loves, 487 comments, 1.1K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Zack Mwekassa: La France trs en colre It cemented the idea in the male western mind that Mezcal with a worm was in fact, the real Mezcal. So tequila is a type of mezcal, but mezcal is not tequila, and only mezcal has worms. your aged in glass section above says this is a good thing but what about *hypothetically* many many years without opening a bottle? Mezcal - Wikipedia Mezcal Worm . The "gusano" in a mezcal bottle has a varied history. However, Oaxaca (a southern state of Mexico) is where most of . There is a law in Jalisco, Mexico - where ALL Tequilas originate and are controlled very carefully - which makes it illegal to put any insect or larvae into a bottle of Tequila. The company Nacional Vinicola, now known as Gusano Rojo ("red worm") wasone of the first to include the worm in its mezcal. She points out the Mezcal brand Gusano Rojo (Red worm) who initiated the adding of worms to Mezcal, when in 1950 a employee got the idea to drop a worm into each bottle as a distinctive touch. Crema de Mezcal: A mezcal-based liqueur flavored with fruits, nuts and/or agave . Shutterstock. The worm is added at the end of the production process, when the liquor is bottled. I dont know if this has any correlation to the aging part, but something I am keeping in mind. Terpenes serve numerous functions in plants, from attracting pollinators to helping to repair damage, but many are also bioactive in humans and may have positive health effects, including positive influences on "mood and stress levels.". The legend of the worm is still debated. I have 250s, 750s and 1L bottles. Why Is There a Worm in Tequila? - Thrillist Whats your ritual for keeping mezcal after the bottle is opened (assuming you dont just drink it)? Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Its free. So, back to the drowned worm. Oaxaca, Durango, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Michoacn, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas are allowed by law. Appreciate the update PhD! Or thrown some of the gusanos that live off their agave into the still to make a pechuga that forces the grubs to earn their keep. I dont understand how it locks it up that way, but when it does it seems to give it a really good structure. I started to wonder whether the rumors were true. How Long Does Mezcal Last, Opened And Unopened? - StillTasty So we know that time can play an integral role in improving mezcal, but what about other elements, like the amount of air in the bottle and the oxygenation and/or evaporation process that occurs when theres very little mezcal left in the bottle? You guys write about this in your review for the bottle. The worm is the peanut butter to the Mezcal's jelly. Are gusanos a gimmick, a tradition, a resource to maximize flavor or one to mask imperfections in the mezcal? This iconic salt is a finely ground powder of chili, sea salt, and dried agave worm and has an umami rich flavor that offers a bold counterpoint to any mezcal. "But one story is that if the worm remains intact in the bottle, the percentage of alcohol in the spirit is high enough to preserve the pickled worm," according to theBeverage Testing Institute. While people who drink mezcal every night may like to highlight the spirit's purity, mezcal, like all alcoholic beverages, contains the chemical ethyl carbamate, which has been linked to various types of lung, liver, and blood cancer. Overall, my sense is that the open bottles are a bit less astringent and rounder on the palette. While questions about the aging of mezcal in opened bottles is an active debate, the community seems decided on the aging of mezcal in closed (never-opened) bottles and/or in larger glass demijans. Culinary Lore claims the belief that it is traditional for there to be a worm at the bottom of a bottle of tequila or mezcal is widespread. The Best Place To Buy Mezcal Tequila With Worm Near You It's a common urban legend that tequila comes with a worm in the bottle. Does Tequila Go Bad? Shelf Life and Fermentation Process | Mezcal But if you dont want to go to the trouble of cooking the plant, you can just carve a huge hole into its center and harvest fresh, sweet sap. This belief seems to be held by many in the industry, and weve spoken to several users of this website who prefer to re-bottle their mezcal to a smaller glass bottle (like a dram or something similar) once the original bottle gets below that 25% threshold. El Recuerdo Abocado Con Gusano Mezcal | Travel Distilled Unlike tequila, which can be made with 51 percent blue agave and 49 percent added sugar from other sources [that could contain gluten], mezcal is made from 100 percent agave.". So, choosing to drink mezcal every night in moderation may be something to consider. 14 intentionally left for seven months with very little remaining in the bottle. Its also interesting to note that you dont see mezcal con gusano being made outside of Oaxaca. Your email address will not be published. But until Mariano Azuelas 1949 novel Sendas Perdidas, all published references I could find that include both mezcal and gusano are separate and culinary in nature; basically, somebody went to Mexico, drank some mezcal and ate some gusanos. Why, yes! Mezcal is a distilled liquor made from the agave plant. In addition to avoiding brands that include the gusano de maguey(what we know as the worm), you'll want to keep an eye out for and stay far away from pechuga mezcal. Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2017. They found that it relaxed the muscles that line blood vessels, causing them to widen and blood pressure to decrease (a process known as vasodilation). When a bottle of mezcal contains a worm, the mezcal is described as being con gusano, or "with worm" in Spanish. So maybe that was a policy established in the 1920s? You should definitely give them an opportunity and if you have tasted other really good Mezcales with worms, let us know. In 2020 he married all of his loves and created a business bringing amazing pieces from all over Mexico to the United States. It's the caterpillar form of a species of moth that lives in agave plants. After,other producers started to us the tactic as a way todifferentiate themselves from tequila back when mezcal started to gain popularity from Oaxacan tourism.Today, it widely regarded that the producers who use the worm in their mezcal is of lower quality. How would drinking mezcal every night affect your body and mind? 1.It's the best way to drink mezcal as the Mexicans do Just like following a shot of tequila with a slurp of lemon wedge and a lick of salt, reddish spice sal de Gusano (worm salt) is often. It is not even legal to put a worm in tequila. But what is really going on with that worm on the bottle's ground floor? But the Mexican gourmands didnt stop at adding fruits to their pulque. If you're struggling with hypertension, choosing to drink mezcal every night may help keep your blood pressure in check. The ovens are deep pits lined with lava rocks that are . Curious about why you sometimes feel awful the morning after drinking? Still other members of this website have written to us about noticing significant differences in older opened bottles, which theyve posited was due to oxidation and/or evaporation. It feeds on the maguey . Spirits like mezcal and tequila are made by fermenting the cooked hearts of the agave. The brands pushing mezcal to new levels don't use the worm. The Truth About the Tequila Worm in the Bottom of the Bottle But, Im convinced the more expensive bottles (like $150 and up) house mostly only the hearts (the less conengers laden part) for both distillations. To be clear, all tequilas are mezcals but not all mezcals are tequilas. They had all been open for a little over a year and all the bottles had just over 25% left. Mezcal Pairings That Aren't Lime and Worm Salt - Esquire For now, it seems safe to say that your mezcal will not go bad from having too much air in the bottle. Now, this call for grubs was published in 1955, well after Legitimo Mezcal was in the market. Chemically, mezcal and tequila are both similar and different, according toDe Len. Aging in wooden barrels, which is done widely for whiskey and tequila, is less common in Mezcal. Mezcal Reviews on Facebook Tequila is actually a kind of mezcal, in the same way that Cognac is a type of brandy. They're actually a common street food in Oaxaca, roasted or deep-fried and served in a tortilla with green tomatoes, lime, and chili. In a 2006 paper published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Dr. Antonio De Len-Rodrguez and colleagues took a close look at the chemical makeup of mezcal. Youll often see special prized batches of mezcal aging in glass at palenques around Oaxaca. Its never been opened. While this is encouraging news for people (like us) who have dozens of bottles open at any given time, its intriguing that the Mezcalero No. Like the Vago Elote and the Rey Campero Tepextate, we all found that the Excess-air was our preferred option among the two. Luckily, the levels of ethyl carbamate in mezcal don't appear to be dangerously high. The answer to that question is a matter of quality, not safety, assuming proper storage conditions - when properly stored, a bottle of mezcal has an indefinite shelf life, even after it has been opened. Its a good selling point that it doesnt turn bad like wine. Heres What to Buy. Tequila fanatic? Mezcalero No. 3: Grow Together, Harvested Together. Thats a question for a future tasting. If you've had kidney stones in the past or are particularly concerned about your renal health, you may not want to drink mezcal every night. Mezcal with the Worm. The Effects, Myths, and Truth. Does mezcal go bad? (I havent, anyway.) I find that its very similar to tequila. However, since the alcohol content of Mezcal and tequila is usually in the same range of 38% to 55% ABV, the shelf life of the two is roughly the same. It's easy to see why it was an apt gimmick for touristsit appears both exotic and traditional, and givesdudes a testing ground for their masculinity. He sparked the worlds interest in the breadth and depth of traditional mezcal. Follow @mezcalreviews Notes of chocolate, rose pedals. Mezcalero No. To make this unique style of mezcal, distillers hang a raw chicken breast ("pechuga" in Spanish) inside the still during the distillation process, according to Wine Enthusiast. All mezcal comes from agave, but there are more than 30 different types of the spiky green plants growing throughout Mexico. According to a survey conducted in 2018 by the Mental Health Foundation, 74 percent of Americans felt so stressed they were "overwhelmed or unable to cope." Short finish. Not to throw a fellow Chicagoan under the bus, but it appears this false narrative started with The Straight Dope columnist Cecil Adams in a 1999 piece. While the flavor of the mezcal does indeed change as it ages, the aging in glass tends to enhance what is already present, making the mezcal more balanced, integrated, and settled. Mezcal is a vast category of spirits . But the worm doesn't just affect the marketing;it actuallychanges the drink's chemistry, De Len said. The word Mezcal comes from the Nahuatl words "metl" and "ixcalli", which means "oven-cooked agave.". Softer palate. Short finish. Tyler, Lavender flavors, a bit of alcohol present. Mezcal 101: Everything You Need to Know - Thrillist Some of the ingredients in even smaller concentrations can affect the aromas and taste. These larvae are called gusano and bottles of mezcal that contain the creepy critters are referred to as con gusano. However, under Mexican law the only distilled liquor of the agave plant that can be called tequila is the liquor distilled from the blue agave plant. Your shot amigo. No one wants to wake up feeling awful after a fun night out, and mezcal may be less likely than other spirits to produce a hangover. We sipped cocktails and thought about what it should be. Im looking forward to being in OAX again next month. It may also have been made before that, but it became far more generalized after the revolution. At any rate, love your passion and commitment!! All rights reserved. Any alcoholic beverage after a long, hard day can help you unwind and lift your spirits, but mezcal contains a terpene called geraniol that may have additional benefits for your mental health. As far as the aged-in-glass goes, we find that the longer the mezcal sits (unopened), the more balanced and integrated it becomes. 5 Rules for How to Drink Mezcal Right - Liquor.com He had it on his bar forever. Worm salt is most commonly used during mezcal tastings but it can also be used for rimming mezcal cocktails and Mexican cooking as well.