In this short article, we will answer the question “What is tequila with the worm?” and will make a deep analysis of this drink.
What is tequila with the worm?
Mezcal is a traditional Mexican beverage made with worm-infused tequila. As many types of mezcal (or mescal) contain larvae of the insect Gusano Rojo at the bottom of the bottle, mezcal is frequently referred to as “tequila with larva.”
Made from the prickly desert plant known as agave, mezcal is a transparent beverage. To make it, the agave core must be removed, roasted until it is a paste, combined with water, and allowed to ferment in vats.
The flavour can be quite bitter (young) or mellow and smoky (Tejo), depending on how old it is. Second fermentation in the aejo type can increase the alcohol content to 55%.
Regarding the bottle warmer, some mezcal brands frequently add gusano (a moth larva) to the mezcal bottles.
This larva, which often grows in the middle of agave plants, can only survive intact if the drink has a particular amount of alcohol; otherwise, it disintegrates. According to third parties, the larva is thought to possess a variety of supernatural abilities.
She has aphrodisiac and psychedelic properties, which makes you even more inebriated.
According to some reports, individuals just claim this to check if anyone consumes the larva; everything else is fake. But, according to research, the great publicist who disseminated the myth that mezcal made with larva is different was telling the truth.
Mezcal and tequila have similar and different chemistry.
Tequila is technically a form of mezcal because it can only be produced from blue agave, whereas mezcal can be produced from a variety of agave species.
Mezcal was created in the southern state of Oaxaca, whilst tequila was created in the city of Tequila in the northern state of Jalisco. The two drinks’ roots are, nevertheless, distinct.
Mezcal and tequila have similar and dissimilar chemical make-up. Many of the same ingredients, including ethanol, ethyl acetate, alcohols, etc., are present in both tequila and mezcal, but in different proportions.
Even at modest amounts, several of the substances can alter the flavour and scent. He and his colleagues concentrated on the slug, the maggot, after comparing mezcal and tequila in one study and figuring out the ideal temperature for fermenting mezcal in another.
When the beverage is bottled at the conclusion of the manufacturing process, the larva is added. Although it is a kind of caterpillar, it is known as a maguey larva. The less-appreciated red and white specimens are added to the mezcal.
t is frequently used in Mexican cooking and is either served raw or fried in tacos. Once you’ve had some mezcal, you’ll start to realise that only the most inexpensive bottles still have larvae floating ominously at the bottom.
There is still controversy around the larva mythology. It wasn’t until the 1940s or 1950s that it began to show up in promotional bottles, at the same time that American tourists began to become dependent on the industry.
According to certain rumours, the larva was put into some mezcal bottles to show its cleanliness. But according to one legend, if the larva is still whole within the bottle, the alcohol content is sufficient to preserve the deceased insect.
The larva is not just a marketing play; it actually impacts the drink’s chemistry
Cynics might claim that it’s all about marketing. One of the first businesses to use the larva in their mezcal was Nacional Vinicola, today known as Gusano Rojo (“red larva”).
According to legend, Jacobo Lozano Páez, a worker at the bottling facility, had the concept. It’s simple to understand why this is the ideal tourist prank because it sounds both foreign and conventional and gives males the chance to demonstrate their masculinity.
However, the larva is more than just a marketing gimmick; it actually changes the drink’s chemical makeup. There are more unsaturated substances and unsaturated alcohols, like cis-3-Hexen-1-ol, in mezcals with the larva.
Despite not having a particularly sensuous name, cis-3-hexen-1-ol has quite sensual effects. It smells like newly cut grass to humans, but it is a true aphrodisiac to other species.
Cis-3-Hexen-1-ol was discovered to be a pheromone used by various animals, including insects and mammals, in their attraction systems and behaviours. There is currently no proof that it affects people in the same way.
Conclusion:
In this short article, we answered the question “What is tequila with the worm?” and made a deep analysis of this drink.