. Limonene, one of the terpenes found in mezcal, could have cancer-fighting properties. It is produced by extracting the heart of the agave plant, roasting it and mashing it to a pulp, then. All rights reserved. Mezcal can be made from over 25 types of agave . In this way the insects will be kept moist and in case the bottle breaks in the mail, there is no danger of the liquid spilling out.. Chemically, mezcal and tequila are both similar and different, according toDe Len. Copyright 2023 StillTasty LLC. The worm is a moth larvae known as gusano de maguey (worm of agave) as it feeds off the agave plant. In the same way, Tom Bullok explains in his book The Mezcal experience that Monte Alban Mezcal followedGusano Rojo with its worm practice and maintained a prolonged advertising campaign in Playboy issues during the 1970s. I just hope we dont come to learn one day that most of our beloved Mezcals had some slight additives injected to help make them: dare I say, smoother? 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. Whiskey connoisseur? Strong tastes of alcohol. Chris, Strong aromas of corn, a bit of nail polish, coffee, and maple pecan. 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. Simply by using that phrase, though traditional mezcal suggests, in that context, that mezcal con gusano isnt traditional. In fairness, it is entirely possible that there are bottles of mezcal with worms that are not too bad. The worm in the bottom of mezcal has a very special purpose and you'll never guess what it is. Each is made using 100 percent Blue Weber agave, which is between seven and nine . Emma Janzen in her book, Mezcal: The history, craft & cocktails of the worlds ultimate artisanal spirit, writes that some time ago, the little larvae represented an alcohol degree measure, because if the worm remained intact inside the liquid, the proof was high enough for preservation. The younger one looked at his drink and said, you know what we should do? The price sheets at Real Minero and other palenques are much the same and there is rarely much of a volume discount at the mercado. Mezcal (/ m s k l /, American Spanish: ()), sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave.The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli [mekali], which means "oven-cooked agave", from metl and ixcalli [ikali]. Our personal recommendations are El Cortijo reposado con gusano and Wahaka reposado con gusano. So 7 months was as long as we could resist temptation. Citronellol is a terpene found in agave, as well as many other plants. According to a National Toxicology Program technical report, ethyl carbamate, also known as urethane, is a natural byproduct of fermentation. Oxidative stress has been linked to the aging process and a number of chronic diseases and conditions. Even today, the marketing gimmick still helps separate themselves from the other producers. Indeed, mezcal con gusano, or with the worm, is just one of many varieties of the potent alcholic beverage that can be found in its home state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Yes, both tequila and mezcal are similar, so it's easy to see how the mistake can be madebut there is no worm in tequila. We pulled a few lower ABV mezcals off the shelf earlier this year. A mezcal worm is an insect larva found in some types of mezcal produced in Oaxaca, Mexico. The gusano, or worm, at the bottom of a bottle of cheap mezcal is actually moth larva. Some have posited that oxygen or oxidization would have a negative impact on the spirits over time. The worm, however, isn't actually a worm, but the larva of one of two different types of moths that live on the agave plant. This experiment was fun to read and be a part of; I greatly enjoyed it! The best way to enjoy it is to eat is separately or even cut it into halves and share it with your friends. First, its not really a worm. Thanks for the insight. 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.". ", Agave and thus the mezcal produced from it hasa number of terpenes. I've learned that people who repeat these things are usually just trying to get someone to eat the worm, and they're lying. 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.". Its usually a red one, though sometimes youll see the white ones in mezcal. I did not realize this when I revised my book in 2018, but now I think that if there is just a little bit left in the bottle (less than 25% is a decent marker but it may need to be even lower), it will worsen over time. 2: It Gives The Power To The Drinker. Worm salt, or sal de gusano in Spanish, is exactly what it sounds like. Especialista en vinos y espirituosos con experiencia en educacin y consultora comercial. To consume a tequila worm, you must first take a shot of the alcoholic beverage with it. Thats a question for a future tasting. Search on the internet and one answer comes up pretty frequently: that Jacobo Lozano Paez invented the idea in 1950 as a marketing angle for his brand, Mezcal Gusano de Oro. But you dont have to go the four-star route to find gusanos on the menu in Mexico theyve been a staple for centuries. In a 2009 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Dr. Dirk W. Lachenmeier and colleagues analyzed the ethyl carbamate levels of mezcal, tequila, and other agave-based alcoholic beverages. Maguey worms are an edible species of worm - technically, caterpillar from the moth family - that infest the Agave tequilana plants that tequila and mezcal are made from. That might make them more palatable for some drinkers but serious mezcal lovers tend to go for 45 proof and up. If you're struggling with hypertension, choosing to drink mezcal every night may help keep your blood pressure in check. All mezcal comes from agave, but there are more than 30 different types of the spiky green plants growing throughout Mexico. 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. Camille Austin, the global portfolio ambassador for Casa Lumbre Spirits, sang the praises of the agave plant in a 2019 interview with Maxim: "It is a plant that is made up of many organic compounds, or terpenes, commonly known as essential oils, that lend to the herbal, citrus and fruity flavors, as well as the 'magical' feeling we get when we drink mezcal. Mexcal Union El Viejo Didnt know exactly what it was and was put in my wine fridge after a big party last summer, just reorganizing my fridge and saw it in there amongst the white. In the end, we found that our hypothesis was correct. But they were a tasty snack around Mexico. I dont know if this has any correlation to the aging part, but something I am keeping in mind. So sometimes the workers will drop a xumilin in the mezcal. So maybe its kind of like ad hoc spice done on the fly (pun intended) for your mezcal? Through the haze, I remembered that mezcal is not tequila, and that, at the bottom of some bottles, you may find a worm. I do notice subtle differences; however, Im at the point where I never want to waste my money on any expression that has an acetone, overly alcohol, or leathery smell, from the get go. These crystals can disrupt the proper functioning of nerves, connective tissue, the intestinal tract, and especially the kidneys and bladder. 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. Joyas Oaxaqueas Blanco con Gusano. Sour on the back end. 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. It is produced by extracting the heart of the agave plant, roasting it and mashing it to a pulp, then combining it with water and allowing it to ferment in barrels. But the Mexican gourmands didnt stop at adding fruits to their pulque. Worm salt is a mix of sea salt, ground agave larvae, and chile spices. That would be a big plus because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 45 percent of American adults have hypertension, and high blood pressure was linked to over472,000 deaths in the United States alone in 2017. Drink with caution: it is not dangerous, but it is a common practice to attract the attention of tourists and chances are the Mezcal itself is of poor quality. Long finish. Chris, Lighter nose and more creamy notes and vanilla on the palate. Tyler and I both have dozens of unopened bottles in deep storage in the back of our closets, saving these special bottles for some unknown future event, probably several years from now. Is it? How to tell if mezcal has gone bad? It is added to the mezcal during the distilling process and is said to add to . Barrel aging typically removes the more vegetal notes of the agave and replaces them with notes of the wood, like caramel, brown sugar, or vanilla. Shutterstock. To begin with, the Mezcal worms are caterpillars and they are a plague of the agave. Luckily, the levels of ethyl carbamate in mezcal don't appear to be dangerously high. Bottom line. Is it safe to drink? The fact that mezcal is a clear spirit also plays a role. Mezcal is a distilled spirit made from any type of agave plant. I do similar things with my Mezcals; however, I divide my Mezcal into a 350 ml bottle (with synthetic cork and fully loaded, with a small air pocket), and keep the rest in its original bottle. Obviously, we can verify a commercial product existed at least back in 1944, courtesy of Legitimo Mezcal, and maybe they werent the first. While worms do live in agave leaves, adding one to a bottle of mezcal is not standard practice, according to a 2015 article from Maxim. "Mezcals with the worm have a greater amount of unsaturated compounds and unsaturated alcohols such as cis-3-Hexen-1-ol.". Is mezcal healthier than tequila? 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. So on October 18, 2019 (seven months later), we performed a blind tasting, where we compared the original bottle with excess-air with the no-air re-bottled mezcal. To humans it usually smells like fresh-cut grass; for other species, it's a real-life aphrodisiac. Stronger aromas on this one, but very short finish. Jonny, Cinnamon, cotton candy, lingering pepper jerky finish. Tyler, More mellow nose and aromas. Tastes of grilled elote. Because mezcal sounds like mescaline,. Richards told The List,"Mezcal is naturally gluten-free, making it an alcohol ideal for anyone with a gluten intolerance or allergy. Traditionally the word "mezcal" has been used generally in Mexico for all agave spirits and it continues to be used for many . The thought behind the gesture is that a high proof, high-quality spirit would preserve the insect and prevent it from rotting. Damian Meneses of El Tigre speculates that the gusano was probably dropped into mezcal bottles long before it was commercialized. Until 1994, nearly every bottle of mezcal legally exported to the USA had a gusano in it. The palate is like a basket full of fresh peppers. 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. He sparked the worlds interest in the breadth and depth of traditional mezcal. This young white mezcal is also a product of agave Espadin. It has a little bag of salt sealed with it on the top. While the study only examined the terpene in isolation and focused on rats rather than humans and did not examine mezcal specifically, the findings suggest that mezcal, which contains agave and thus citronellol, might be able to lower blood pressure in humans. "We're working on a few new studies to guarantee that these Mexican alcoholic beverages are of high quality the way others have done for beverages like vodka and whisky," he said. These larvae are called gusano and bottles of mezcal that contain the creepy critters are referred to as con gusano. The word Mezcal comes from the Nahuatl words "metl" and "ixcalli", which means "oven-cooked agave.". Well, not exactly. When you think of Mezcal what probably appears in your mind is a bottle with a red worm inside and you think about a challenge of drinking a strong liquor with an insect. Seriously. They create crystals by binding calcium and other minerals together. Mezcal bottles with tequila worms are not uncommon. To maximize the shelf life of mezcal for quality purposes, store in a cool dry area away from direct heat or sunlight; keep tightly closed when not in use. And many are really starting to take notice. When exposed to air, this oxidizes to acetic acid, which is ester. The worm is added at the end of the production process, when the liquor is bottled. teriyaki chicken donburi wagamama . Overall, the Rey Campero Tepextate was our favorite from the evening. [1] In the 14th edition of its Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program declared that urethane was "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on evidence from animal-based lab studies. They're actually a common street food in Oaxaca, roasted or deep-fried and served in a tortilla with green tomatoes, lime, and chili. Liquid error (sections/article-related-products line 2): Could not find asset snippets/spurit_po2_section_snippet.liquid. The simplest way to think about it, explains Sydney Block, co-founder of Catedral Mi Padre Mezcal, is that all tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal is tequila. Get InsideHook in your inbox. I have 250s, 750s and 1L bottles. Impossible to tell without actually having it in front of me, but generally, it should be ok as long as nothing entered the bottle. More balanced and mellow. Jonny. Mezcal can be considered cleaner and more pure than tequila, especially if the later is mixed with artificial sugar and way to many margarita mixers. A team of molecular biologists study the chemical composition of mezcal and tequila. In a study published in Physiology & Behavior in 2015, a team of researchers led by Dr. Xue-Yang Deng examined the effect geraniol had when administered to mice who were experiencing "chronic" and "unpredictable" stress, though "mild." Does mezcal with worm go bad? The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? As you stated from my book, I do believe the taste will generally improve over time, but I agree with Judah that this has its limits. ADVERTISEMENT Yet for the export market producers have found that wormless mezcal has no appeal. And theres a lot of crossover between those two purposes, too. They may be white (Meocuilines) or red (Chinicuilies), and both are an ancient food and taste good. Beyond Celiac noted that 18 million Americans have a non-celiac disease sensitivity to gluten. Rather than pontificate, we decided to do some hard core research. 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. However, some people do really enjoy eating the worm and others will be adamant in telling you that the little guy does give you special powers. I started to wonder whether the rumors were true. 14, which is an incredible mezcal, was the only bottle that we preferred with little/no air. That sounds like an awesome experiment, very similar to ours. We also asked co-founder of Mezcal Vago, Judah Kuper, the same question last year. These atoms are very chemically unstable and will essentially steal electrons from cells in the body. Your email address will not be published. Greg is a lover of agave spirits, handicrafts, and barware. As pulque researcher Gonzalo Alvarez says, Ive seen and tasted pulque that is prepared with worms, chiles and salt that have been ground together with a mortar and pestle. Which is how it ended up drowned in a bottle of mezcal. We all agreed that the finish on the Excess-air mezcal was much longer and more pronounced. Hes also the co-host of Agave Road Trip (with Chava Periban), a podcast that helps bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits and rural Mexico, and the author of El Gusano, a comic book about a boy who transforms into a human-sized gusano. Or more specifically, does mezcal in an opened bottle eventually go bad? According to the Mayo Clinic, congeners are compounds that increase the likelihood and severity of a hangover. Aging in wooden barrels, which is done widely for whiskey and tequila, is less common in Mezcal. It is a tasty snack in parts of Mexico. Your note about dried corks is an interesting one to consider. It's called a maguey worm, but it's actually a caterpillar, with red and (less desirable) white varieties added to mezcal. "Tequila and mezcals have most of the same components, like ethanol, ethyl acetate, heavy alcohols, etc., but they can have variations in how much they contain," he said. How would drinking mezcal every night affect your body and mind? Antonio De Len Rodrguez, a molecular biologist at the IPICYT (Instituto Potosino de Investigacin Cientfica y Tecnolgica) in San Luis Potos, Mexico,has published a number of scientific papers about the chemical makeup of mezcal. Chemically, mezcal and tequila are both similar and different. Mezcal and tequila will stay deliciously enjoyable for years to come . It also had marginally lower ABV than the others. It adds nothing to the flavor of the liquor, most likely. The race is on." 'That drink can't be rum and coke' Flowers. Older commercialized mezcal brands have not deviated from the pack of new generation mezcal producers. Mezcalero No. Would this impact be good or bad? Jacobo Lozano Paez of Gusano Rojowas the brains behind the mezcal worm marketing ploy. Follow @mezcalreviews Tequila has strict guidelines of bottling and production. (Technically, this makes tequila a type of mezcal.) Most importantly, mezcal mustbe 100 percent agave, while tequila only needs to contain 51 percent agave. I have a sealed bottle of Mezcal I gave to my dad 30 years ago. Today, to find a worm in a bottle of mezcal is more rare as hundred of new mezcal producers has came into existence in the last 20 years. Flavors of cinnamon, sand, and slate. Jonny, Notes of clay. Casamigos tequila takes things slow. They can lead to kidney stones, which can be extremely painful and may require medical intervention to remove. And awesome. It would be great if it did because stress is a problem many Americans grapple with every day. The growing popularity of mezcal that is aged-in-glass clearly emphasizes the importance of time on how distilled agave can settle and build structure long after it has left the still. Yep, add a tasty, wiggly snack the Red Maguey Worm. 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. According to WebMD, limonene is also used in alternative medicine to treat obesity and bronchitis, but its effectiveness in treating these conditions has not been scientifically proven. 1: Worms In Mezcal Add Flavor To The Drink. 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. Recuerdo Mezcal is one of the few recent mezcal brands to embrace the gusano. Hey Nick. According to him, theres some sound science to the fact that mezcal would change over time, but we wanted some experiential evidence that it would indeed change for the better. Mezcal and the agave plant it comes from are both high in fructans, a type of carbohydrate. Very similar, but more mellow and balanced. Jonny. You will never find a worm in a bottle of imported tequila. So tequila is a type of mezcal, but mezcal is not tequila, and only mezcal has worms. How can read about examples of modern day brands using the mezcal worm here. In the article, Fausto Zapata, a co-founder of El Silencio mezcal, explains that adding a worm was just a marketing tactic to get more people to try, or be dared to try, mezcal. Yes!!!! Mezcal Reviews on Twitter Like the Elote, the Excess-air mezcal was our favorite for the Rey Campero Tepextate. So, if you have already bought a bottle of Mezcal with a worm or you are in a party and someone insists you drink it, you may consider these 3 tips: Drink with caution: it is not dangerous, but it is a common practice to attract the attention of tourists and chances are the Mezcal itself is of poor quality. If they see it in the mezcal bottle theyll buy it. It didn't start appearing in commercialbottles until the 1940s or 50s, right around the time American tourists started to get hooked on the stuff. The researchers found that the geraniol had an antidepressant-like effect on the mice, suggesting that the terpene could have important therapeutic benefits for humans struggling with stress and depression. According to Town & Country,mezcal can be made from any type of agave, while tequila must be made from blue agave. Are you still interested in learning more? In fact, despite all the mystique surrounding the mezcal worm, its inclusion may have simply been a marketing tacticthat began in the 1940s and 1950s to help spark American interest in mezcal and separate it from the better-known tequila. However, Oaxaca (a southern state of Mexico) is where most of . In this post, we will try to unearth some more interesting facts behind the best mezcal with worms. Some wild . 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. 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. Yes, you can buy mezcal with a worm in the United States. The worm is actually a larva that lives on the agave plant. 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. If you see a worm in your bottle, it's probably not good mezcal." All rights reserved. Created by workers? 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. 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. As Im sure you can imagine, the toughest part of this experiment was intentionally leaving these delicious bottles on the shelf (even when theyre hidden in the back of the closet). Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2017. MEZCAL has a terrible image. 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). In the original bottles, we left about 2-3oz of mezcal to interact with the air left in the bottle.
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