We poured the four bottles of mezcal into smaller air tight 250ml glass containers. Some purists believe the combination of citrus and salt is too intense on the palate if the goal is to savor the nuances of fine sipping mezcal, but this is still a very common botana . The company Nacional Vinicola, now known as Gusano Rojo ("red worm") wasone of the first to include the worm in its mezcal. Very sweet. For the aejo variety, a second fermentation can raise the alcohol percentage up to about 55 percent. In 2014, a studyin the Journal of Medicinal Foodsuggested that agave fructans prevented bone loss and encouraged formation of new bone by raising calcium concentrations in both bone and circulating blood. We should do a really special Mezcal. It's the caterpillar form of a species of moth that lives in agave plants. A popular belief says that if you eat the worm found at the bottom of your favorite glass of tequila or mezcal bottles, then you will have hallucinations or even visions . 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. Learnwhat happens to your body when you have a hangover. My brand has absolutely nothing but organic agave and water,"Jimenez shared. ", Agave and thus the mezcal produced from it hasa number of terpenes. No, it doesnt make you hallucinate. His theory was that mezcal would continue to improve until the bottle would get down to about 25% full, at which time he suggested that you should just drink the remaining mezcal because it would start to drastically change (presumably for the worse). Picture source: 21food.com. Its common to mix pulque with fruits to make what they call curados, a beverage that would dethrone smoothies as the fitness drink of choice if it werent so volatile. Some releases will be aged in glass for upwards of two or three years before being bottled for sales and general consumption. There's often confusion about the difference between mezcal and tequila. Prized as a source of protein since Pre-Hispanic times, the larvae live in the agave plants used to make tequila and mezcal. The worm is actually a larva that lives on the agave plant. Especialista en vinos y espirituosos con experiencia en educacin y consultora comercial. They may be white (Meocuilines) or red (Chinicuilies), and both are an ancient food and taste good. The worm is a moth larva, gusano de maguey. So 7 months was as long as we could resist temptation. Bottom line. Softer palate. I could tell you the red one is of the species comadia redtenbacheri and that the white worm, which is the one commonly found feeding off the agave plant, is aegiale hesperiaris. Aging in glass, however, imparts no new flavors. 99K views, 7.8K likes, 645 loves, 487 comments, 1.1K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Zack Mwekassa: La France trs en colre Spirits like mezcal and tequila are made by fermenting the cooked hearts of the agave. Does mezcal with worm go bad? Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. What happens when you eat the worm in mezcal? First things first: The "worm" at the bottom of some bottles of mezcal isn't actually a worm, as noted by Vice . 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. According to Anthony Dias Blue 's Complete Book of Spirits, that "worm" is. It's an aphrodisiac; it has hallucinogenic properties; it will make you drunker. "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. There are plenty of myths and local legends about the effects that the mezcal worm may have, but they are simply not true. If you're among thefive percent of Americans who identify as vegetarian or three percent who follow a vegan lifestyle, you'll need to do your research before opening up a new bottle of mezcal. At least one valid email address is required. Flavors of cinnamon, sand, and slate. Jonny, Notes of clay. But its not hard to imagine that this was a longstanding policy of the Mexican government, especially following the Mexican Revolution, which returned farmland to Indigenous people. The gusano is there to tell us that agave spirits are and have always been in flux. Your email address will not be published. A bit funky with some burnt notes on the back of the palate. Tyler, Notes of ash and firewood on the nose and palate. Chris, Alcohol on the nose. Well, not exactly. Mezcal Reviews on Facebook Whats your ritual for keeping mezcal after the bottle is opened (assuming you dont just drink it)? . Appreciate the update PhD! So I guess you could call that pulque de gusano.. 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. To humans it usually smells like fresh-cut grass; for other species, it's a real-life aphrodisiac. It feeds on the maguey . Is it? According to Medical News Today, they're a large group of aromatic compounds that give plants their distinctive smell. It is similar to tequila, but has a smoky flavor. My question goes back to the aged in glass topic What if we have bottles that havent ever been opened, still sealed? 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. This comes from the blending of a premium, 100% blue weber agave tequila with a 100% Espadn agave mezcal. What I am learning is that it has a lot to do with heads-hearts-tails. Notes of chocolate, rose pedals. It's a common urban legend that tequila comes with a worm in the bottle. 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. Liquid error (sections/article-related-products line 2): Could not find asset snippets/spurit_po2_section_snippet.liquid. If you're struggling with hypertension, choosing to drink mezcal every night may help keep your blood pressure in check. "When you wake up after drinking it, you feel the same way as you do when you drink natural wines. ; THE WORM DOESN'T JUST AFFECT THE MARKETING; IT ACTUALLY CHANGES THE DRINK'S CHEMISTRY. Short finish. Tyler, Lavender flavors, a bit of alcohol present. It's free. I believe you would have found this if you had let your experiment run for 2 yrs or so, maybe less, but 7 months seems too short. In fact, inflammation can be both a good and a bad thing, depending on how long it lasts, as noted by Harvard Medical School. Generally, weve found that older bottles tend to mellow and get better over time. It also had marginally lower ABV than the others. But does mezcal deserve all the hype? And some agavero kept putting off sending in his gusano sampleand then finally drank it? Some of the ingredients in even smaller concentrations can affect the aromas and taste. 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. 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. Yep, add a tasty, wiggly snack the Red Maguey Worm. There are two types of moth larva that can be used: the first from a beetle with red coloring known as Scyphophorus acupunctatus and the second from a Cossidae moth known as Comadia redtenbacheri. 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. The worm is the peanut butter to the Mezcal's jelly. I started to wonder whether the rumors were true. To make it, you toast the worms and grind them up with sea salt and . Overall, the El Jolgorio Barril showed slight differences between the two different aged mezcals. Mezcalero No. Robust. How to tell if mezcal has gone bad? Aging in wooden barrels, which is done widely for whiskey and tequila, is less common in Mezcal. The Mexican spirit that does have a worm in the bottle is called Mezcal. I have a sealed bottle of Mezcal I gave to my dad 30 years ago. According to the University of WisconsinMadison, approximately 13 percent of men and 7 percent of women will experience at least one kidney stone in their lives, and having one kidney stone makes you 80 percent more likely to have another within the next ten years. 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. Neither study focused on mezcal specifically, but it looks like your favorite Mexican spirit may be a double-edged sword when it comes to inflammation. Youll often see special prized batches of mezcal aging in glass at palenques around Oaxaca. Rey Campero Tepextate (notice levels in each bottle), Candied peppers, Dr. Pepper, and Jelly Beans. If you're a fan of this smoky Mexican spirit, you probably think of mezcal as tequila's more sophisticated and complex older brother. 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. He had it on his bar forever. 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. In fact, as Mezcal PhD had posted, the air appears to help your mezcal become subjectively more enjoyable over time. And there are lots of spirits that are made from agave in a nearly identical manner to mezcal, but for various reasons don't meet the government classifications, such as raicilla, sotol, and . They create crystals by binding calcium and other minerals together. Mezcal is a type of Mexican liquor that is made from the agave plant. Overall, the Rey Campero Tepextate was our favorite from the evening. They already know they like that tasty snack. "People say if you eat the worm in the bottle you'll hallucinate," says Reyes. Palate has beets and root vegetables with a bit of cigarette ash. Jonny, Very similar but more mellow with fewer of the burnt notes present. Tyler, Almost identical nose and palate but a bit more blended in flavor. Chris, Softer nose. Unfortunately, you'd be hard put to find a bottle of mezcal in the US that has a worm in . Its also interesting to note that you dont see mezcal con gusano being made outside of Oaxaca. I recently picked up a Real Minero Espadin (batch #L-00401) with a harvest date of 2008. On the other hand, a 2010 study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology found that heavy consumption of alcohol in general has a pro-inflammatory effect throughout the body. They found that none of them had an ethyl carbamate concentration that exceeded the international safety guideline of less than 0.15 mg/L. However, Oaxaca (a southern state of Mexico) is where most of . For those unfamiliar with the Aged-in-Glass or Madurado style, this refers to the aging of mezcal in glass after it is distilled. A team of molecular biologists study the chemical composition of mezcal and tequila. Most importantly, mezcal mustbe 100 percent agave, while tequila only needs to contain 51 percent agave. Mezcal is any ol' type of agave liquor. It began in 1950, the art school student who became a mezcal maker included moth larvae in bottles to distinguish his mezcal brand from others. The gusano, or worm, at the bottom of a bottle of cheap mezcal is actually moth larva. Copyright 2023 StillTasty LLC. Sal de Gusanoor worm salt,is an accompaniment used as a way to spice up vegetables and fruits while you drink mezcal. Of those, slightly more than half (51 percent) reported also feeling depressed, and 61 percent reported feelings of anxiety. Yet, I believe Ill always be a LaLocura fanboy; closely followed by Real Minero and some Rey Comperos when I seek a more copper pot flavored/made Mezcal; something a drop more hot or edgy. Mezcal Reviews on Twitter How Tequila Differs From Mezcal Tequila and mezcal both originate from Mexico and are made from agave, a form of succulent that grows in the Mexican desert. The bottle would no longer be considered "tequila" under the denomination of origin. The worm gives it flavor, he shared. 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." Unfortunately, they didnt taste very good, but maybe they werent really all that enjoyable to begin with? Too much acetone/nail polish means too much of the head, and too much astringency (burn) means too much tail Which, by default seems to also suggest that the distillation was very hot. Tequila to be Tequila must contain 51% Blue Agave. Because mezcal sounds like mescaline,. A Culinary Tour of France, With Dominique Crenn as Your Host, NFL Player Survey Reveals Leagues Worst Team and Its Not a Surprise. Mezcal is a transparent liquor made from distilled agave, a spiky-looking desert plant. The red worm is typically considered tastier. In short, the worm that you see in a bottle of mezcal was a marketing gimmick. Sour on the back end. The first times you d. We should do a really special Mezcal. Tequila is also. "The only mezcal you used to be able to buy was the one with the worm in the bottle," he said. So it's best to stick with an alcohol that's naturally gluten-free, like mezcal. Informe Consejo Regulador del Mezcal 2017 and 2020. 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). Mezcalero No. was the brains behind the mezcal worm marketing ploy. Usually, Meocuilines are cooked in exotic dishes and Chinicuiles are added to Mezcal or mixed with salt (called Sal de Gusano). 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." Mezcal means "oven-cooked agave", which is how the pina are cooked to extract the sugars that will be fermented and then distilled. And now, here are five mezcal con gusanos I recommend: For more tips and tricks from the worlds best bartenders, sign up for The Spill, a weekly guide to imbibing all good spirits. Is that necessarily better or simply a choice at the moment between the blue groomer, the black diamond moguls or hiking to the back bowls for the puntas? Have you noticed differences in bottles that have been open for extended periods of time? Please note, comments must be approved before they are published, Liquid error (sections/article-related-products line 1): Could not find asset snippets/spurit_po2_section_snippet.liquid Mezcal (or mescal) is the same as thing as tequila, but it is not tequila at all. While mezcal can be made from any number of agave plants, tequila can only be made from blue agave, which means that tequila is technically a mezcal. But I have seen mezcal with a scorpion in the bottle, up in Durango, and that appears to be a reflection of the Oaxacan gusano practice. The most common is espadin, which can be cultivated on farms. Its more of a grub or a larva you know, the thing that turns into a moth. It was the only mezcal in the group that was distilled in clay. 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. The mezcal worm began as a way to distinguish mezcal from tequila and was transformed into an added element of . Learn more. If you are the new mezcal drinker among the group person who finishes the bottle of mezcal has to eat the worm. 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. 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. Thanks for the insight. Worm salt, or sal de gusano in Spanish, is exactly what it sounds like. Fortune magazine reported that sales of mezcal rose 25 percent between 2014 and 2019, according to data fromIWSR, which tracks alcohol sales around the world. The larva is usually either a gusano rojo ("red worm") or a chinicuil ("maguey worm"), the caterpillar of the Comadia redtenbacheri moth. Fattened on sweet agave nectar, they might be sauted and folded into warm tortillas or toasted and ground up with rock salt and . Chemically, mezcal and tequila are both similar and different. Mezcal and tequila will stay deliciously enjoyable for years to come . If they see it in the mezcal bottle theyll buy it. And many are really starting to take notice. It may also have been made before that, but it became far more generalized after the revolution. Another mention about the worm is in Sara Bowens research Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal and The politics of production. They found that limonene did possess anti-tumor effects, but this experiment was limited to cells grown in a laboratory. 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. I like making a rotation with what im drinking (and small amounts at a time) so ill have several bottles over the next several years that fall will into the category of your experiment. In an interview with Bon Appetit, mezcal distiller Yola Jimenez pointed to mezcal's purity as the reason it causes fewer hangovers. So, choosing to drink mezcal every night in moderation may be something to consider. Although, do bug guts have a flavor, per se? But, Im convinced the more expensive bottles (like $150 and up) house mostly only the hearts (the less conengers laden part) for both distillations. 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. ADVERTISEMENT Yet for the export market producers have found that wormless mezcal has no appeal. But theres also a rich history of mezcaleros adding stuff to their mezcal, both during and after distillation. 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. Mezcal left in a bottle that has been opened will eventually go bad Our friend Mezcal PhD tells us that mezcal will likely improve over time. Older commercialized mezcal brands have not deviated from the pack of new generation mezcal producers. Mezcal: The history, craft & cocktails of the worlds ultimate artisanal spirit, Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal and The politics of production. I can attest to that, too. For now, it seems safe to say that your mezcal will not go bad from having too much air in the bottle. I dont understand how it locks it up that way, but when it does it seems to give it a really good structure. 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. 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. But if this response keeps going long after the initial injury is gone, it can cause the immune system to get confused and start attacking healthy tissue. 14 intentionally left for seven months with very little remaining in the bottle. What I seek is the heart of the distillation, and less blended heads and tails to achieve the same alcohol content, given no dilution. Created by workers? Slightly muted flavor notes but mostly the same. Chris, Muted aromas. Curious about why you sometimes feel awful the morning after drinking? He sparked the worlds interest in the breadth and depth of traditional mezcal. It is a tasty snack in parts of Mexico. "Cis-3-Hexen-1-ol has been recognized as a pheromone involved in mechanisms and behaviors of attraction in diverse animals such as insects and mammals," De Len said. Let's set things straight here. September 24, 2020 2:06 pm ET. The fact that the gusanos were presented for eating and yet show up nowhere as being in the mezcal suggests that, possibly until the 1940s, no one was putting gusanos into mezcal for commercial purposes. Mezcal (or mescal) is the same as thing as tequila, but it is not tequila at all. Over time, this damages the cells in a process called oxidative stress. 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. Crazy about gin? People began to believe that finding one of these "tequila worms" was a . 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. In 2020 he married all of his loves and created a business bringing amazing pieces from all over Mexico to the United States. Some stories claim theworm was added to some bottles of mezcal to demonstrate its purity. Remember that it is not the authentic Mezcal: the worm adds flavor and usually it masks lousy flavors. Gusano de Oro was trademarked in 1948, so that happened two years before Adamss claim of 1950. Oaxaca, Durango, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Michoacn, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas are allowed by law. Still, for this reason, choosing to drink mezcal every night in moderation, of course doesn't sound so bad. 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. BULLOCK, Tom (2017), The Mezcal experience, Quarto Publishing Group, London, UK. It's still unclear if the limonene found in mezcal would have the same effect in humans. 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. MEZCAL has a terrible image. These little mezcal fun facts are explained in detail. Others have referred to results of scotch or whiskeys changing drastically if not consumed within a reasonable amount of time after opening. But it is pronounced mescal. Are your mezcals getting better as they age? We pulled a few lower ABV mezcals off the shelf earlier this year. But if you're one of the many Americans abstaining from gluten, there's no need to give up mezcal. I dont know if this has any correlation to the aging part, but something I am keeping in mind. If you don't want to taste it and are the unlucky chose one to eat it, pour the mezcal worm into a shot glasses with the mezcal and shoot it. These atoms are very chemically unstable and will essentially steal electrons from cells in the body. They're highly nutritious, easy and inexpensive to raise, and have much less of a negative environmental impact than other more familiar animal sources of protein, such as beef and pork.