But is this true for bottles that are less than 25% full? Agave can yield both distilled and fermented drinks. Damian Meneses of El Tigre speculates that the gusano was probably dropped into mezcal bottles long before it was commercialized. 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 know that Mezcal with a worm is an intriging topic and well give you some advise because, Yes, of course! I recently picked up a Real Minero Espadin (batch #L-00401) with a harvest date of 2008. 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. Older commercialized mezcal brands have not deviated from the pack of new generation mezcal producers. 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. In parts of Guerrero, they'll occasionally throw one into a mezcal . I spent a weekend in Mexico City and drank too much mezcal. There are many more 250ml bottles in Oaxaca these days. Cis-3-Hexen-1-ol doesn't have a sexy name, but it has some pretty sexy effects. 99K views, 7.8K likes, 645 loves, 487 comments, 1.1K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Zack Mwekassa: La France trs en colre 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? This is why all tequila comes from Jalisco. To consume a tequila worm, you must first take a shot of the alcoholic beverage with it. 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. Rather than pontificate, we decided to do some hard core research. We should do a really special Mezcal. 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. If you do feel something after eating a mezcal worm it is a placebo effect. The most common is espadin, which can be cultivated on farms. Stop. Should the worm be denounced, embraced or just studied to better understand mezcals history? 2: It Gives The Power To The Drinker. 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. At best, you may get a little more of a buzz because the mezcal has been absorbed into the worm. 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). 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. Ive heard that the alcohol vapors in liquor prevent the cork from drying more than wine corks, but Im not sure if this is confirmed. Liquid error (sections/article-related-products line 2): Could not find asset snippets/spurit_po2_section_snippet.liquid. Sal de Gusanoor worm salt,is an accompaniment used as a way to spice up vegetables and fruits while you drink mezcal. It is similar to tequila, but has a smoky flavor. Maestro mezcalero Eduardo Angeles of Lalocura has a different view. Traditionally the word "mezcal" has been used generally in Mexico for all agave spirits and it continues to be used for many . According to Anthony Dias Blue's Complete Book of Spirits, that "worm" is actually a larva from one of two types of moths, known as maguey worms, that live on the agave plant. 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. 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. While that has nothing to do with aging, its worth noting that this stuff remained stellar. I have a sealed bottle of Mezcal I gave to my dad 30 years ago. 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. Mezcal Reviews on Twitter Especialista en vinos y espirituosos con experiencia en educacin y consultora comercial. Smoke is not always the most pronounced element in mezcal, nor must it be viewed as the chief virtue. For the aejo variety, a second fermentation can raise the alcohol percentage up to about 55 percent. No, it doesnt prove your machismo or machisma, depending on who you are hanging out with. In the original bottles, we left about 2-3oz of mezcal to interact with the air left in the bottle. That sounds like an awesome experiment, very similar to ours. Its not in a glass bottle, its in a black small round ceramic bottle with a worm on it. 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 bottle would no longer be considered "tequila" under the denomination of origin. Im curious if you recall specific characteristics about your least favorite that changed/improved over time. These meaty mezcals are still relatively hard to find in the United States, but several brands, including Del Maguey, El Jolgorio, Wahaka, and Rey Campero, offer pechuga-style options. Theories abound. 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. If they see it in the mezcal bottle theyll buy it. Free radicals are highly reactive atoms created when oxygen molecules inside the body split, as explained by Medical News Today. These little mezcal fun facts are explained in detail. Answer (1 of 2): It's an acquired taste. Depending on how long it's aged, flavors can range from stingingly bitter (joven) to smoother and smoky (aejo). Hints of white grape juice. Tyler, Aromas of peanut butter cups, woody, leather. Chris, Aromas of cinnamon, all spice, sandalwood, and vanilla. The worm has all sorts of mystical powers, people told me. ", Agave and thus the mezcal produced from it hasa number of terpenes. If you're struggling with hypertension, choosing to drink mezcal every night may help keep your blood pressure in check. The mezcal worm began as a way to distinguish mezcal from tequila and was transformed into an added element of . Like so much of the beautiful cultural heritage of rural Mexico, theres little to no documentation to support any of the theories. 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. Informe Consejo Regulador del Mezcal 2017 and 2020. 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? Strong finish. Tyler, Nose has notes of maple syrup and pancakes. 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 . 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. 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. The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? If the specimens have a soft body (such as worms), they wrote in Agricultura Tcnica en Mexico, Volume 1, they should be placed in a bottle with alcohol, tequila, mezcal, or 10% formalin. 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. can I leave it out now and drink as it was supposed to be room temp? 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. When a bottle of mezcal contains a worm, the mezcal is described as being con gusano, or "with worm" in Spanish. The palate is like a basket full of fresh peppers. The company Nacional Vinicola, now known as Gusano Rojo ("red worm") wasone of the first to include the worm in its mezcal. Copyright 2023 StillTasty LLC. 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." Picture source: 21food.com. So tequila is a type of mezcal, but mezcal is not tequila, and only mezcal has worms. 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. It was much more mellow and all of the nail polish/alcohol notes had vanished over time, making this an incredibly rounded and balanced Elote. After comparing mezcal and tequilain one studyand determining the best temperature for mezcal's fermentationin another, he and his colleagues turned to the worm, the gusano. The ovens are deep pits lined with lava rocks that are . Much softer and more delicate than the first. Jonny. 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. However there are certain examples of high quality brands using the mezcal worm as a way to pay homage to the tradition. Mezcal Reviews on Instagram, Copyright 2016-2023 Mezcalerbro LLC Privacy Statement Terms of Use, Hacienda de Bauelos and Derrumbes Zacatecas, Mezcalosfera Tobala/Verde/Madrecuixe/Cuixe/Espadin Felipe Corts, Mezcal left in a bottle that has been opened will stay the same or actually improve, Mezcal left in a bottle that has been opened will improve to a certain point, but then go bad if there is too little mezcal left in the bottle, Mezcal left in a bottle that has been opened will eventually go bad. 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. Some releases will be aged in glass for upwards of two or three years before being bottled for sales and general consumption. To further complicate the matter, tequila is a special type of mezcal. It's free. Overall, the Mezcalero No. But since the study wasn't performed on humans and didn't use geraniol specifically from mezcal, it's hard to say if the spirit would have the same mood-boosting effects. 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. Or sometimes two. Could one of these factors have made the difference? Both spellings are correct, and everyone has their favorite it seems. Strong tastes of alcohol. Chris, Strong aromas of corn, a bit of nail polish, coffee, and maple pecan. They had all been open for a little over a year and all the bottles had just over 25% left. The worm in mezcal is considered by most experts to be a gimmick intended to grab the attention of tourists. That sounds plausible. In the end, we found that our hypothesis was correct. Its more of a grub or a larva you know, the thing that turns into a moth. That espadin is 48-49% and the best to me was having a good mouthfeel with the agave flavor. 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. One day, no one will be able to con you into buying a bottle of bad tequila for three times what it's worth. Yes, when it comes to Mezcal, the worm at the bottom of the bottle has grown beyond a cultural phenomenon and into a world-renowned icon of sorts. These larvae are the same worms that you can find floating at the bottom of mezcal bottles. Some wild . If theyre sealed, they should be fine, and theyll likely get better as they age. Long finish. Chris, Lighter nose and more creamy notes and vanilla on the palate. The mezcal worm is also used as a rite of passage when drinking mezcal with friends. The world of agave spirits is so vast, it doesn't have a name. This experiment was fun to read and be a part of; I greatly enjoyed it! How long does mezcal last? Designed by JOHO Marketing. Heres another theory: The Mexican government asked farmers to send them samples of bugs that plagued their crops. Chronic inflammation has been implicated in a number of conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, and cancer. At any rate, love your passion and commitment!! I have 250s, 750s and 1L bottles. According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, one percent of Americans have celiac disease and 0.4 percent have a diagnosed wheat allergy. 3: Grow Together, Harvested Together. While dispelling myths, this is not a hallucinogenic spirit. Until 1994, nearly every bottle of mezcal legally exported to the USA had a gusano in it. 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. It was the only mezcal in the group that was distilled in clay. It's also commonly used in Mexican cuisine, served fried in tacos or sometimes raw. Acetaldehyde is present in a distilled mezcal. Is it safe to drink? Which is how it ended up drowned in a bottle of mezcal. Our personal recommendations are El Cortijo reposado con gusano and Wahaka reposado con gusano. The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? Mezcal Fun Facts Mezcal is a distilled liquor made from the agave plant. 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? Now, this call for grubs was published in 1955, well after Legitimo Mezcal was in the market. They can lead to kidney stones, which can be extremely painful and may require medical intervention to remove. 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. Mezcal is a transparent liquor made from distilled agave, a spiky-looking desert plant. Shutterstock. Citronellol is a terpene found in agave, as well as many other plants. Im not rushing to open my stash of unobtaniums with silicone stoppers, but given whats happened to some of my Bordeaux with dried out corks, its time to open the Marca Negra Dobadan and possibly the older Del Maguey although they have the wax seals. 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. The race is on." 'That drink can't be rum and coke' Flowers. 14 (notice levels in each bottle), Soft sweet clay. But what is really going on with that worm on the bottle's ground floor? It has a little bag of salt sealed with it on the top. BULLOCK, Tom (2017), The Mezcal experience, Quarto Publishing Group, London, UK. Tequila is also. A research team examined limonene's ability to destroy lung cancer cells and published the findings in 2018 in the journal OncoTargets and Therapy. You should definitely give them an opportunity and if you have tasted other really good Mezcales with worms, let us know. 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 bit of nail polish on the palate as well. Jonny, Strong notes and aromas. More notes of dates and hickory. Tyler, Less pungent on the nose. Others have referred to results of scotch or whiskeys changing drastically if not consumed within a reasonable amount of time after opening. I find that its very similar to tequila. 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. And theres a lot of crossover between those two purposes, too. We should do a really special Mezcal. 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. MEZCAL has a terrible image. They already know they like that tasty snack. Another mention about the worm is in Sara Bowens research Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal and The politics of production. Contrary to popular belief, the worm in mezcal isn't a worm at all, it's actually a larva. He says; If you open your bottles once a year or so and let new air in (assuming you did not drink it all), the mezcal will improve over time. The spirits are distilled differently and produced in different regions of Mexico. Once a bottle of mezcal is opened, the contents may begin to evaporate slowly and some flavor may be lost over time, but the mezcal will remain safe to consume if it has been stored properly. 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 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. If you're following a plant-based diet and want to try one of these brands, be sure to check the label carefully to make sure no meat was used in the distillation process. Your body just recognizes the difference." The worm is the peanut butter to the Mezcal's jelly. 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. But the origins of the two liquors are distinct; mezcal originated in the southern state of Oaxaca, and tequila is from the city of Tequila, in the more northern state of Jalisco. ; THE WORM DOESN'T JUST AFFECT THE MARKETING; IT ACTUALLY CHANGES THE DRINK'S CHEMISTRY. I had a plate of pan-fried and seasoned gusanos at the four-star Casareyna in Puebla Centro years ago and that dish brings me back there every trip. Legend has it thatan employee of the bottling plant, Jacobo Lozano Pez, came up with the idea. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that all Mexican spirits distilled from agave, including mezcal, had high concentrations of oxalates. The worm is added at the end of the production process, when the liquor is bottled. The younger one looked at his drink and said, you know what we should do? First, you have to harvest a mature agave plant. does mezcal with worm go bad. It adds nothing to the flavor of the liquor, most likely. The shelf life of mezcal is indefinite, but if mezcal develops an off odor, flavor or appearance, it should be discarded for quality purposes. Some have posited that oxygen or oxidization would have a negative impact on the spirits over time. Mezcalero No. Id agreed that a 2yr experiment like this would probably provide more noticeable differences. Likely, youve wondered whats up with the worm? Mezcal is a transparent liquor made from distilled agave, a spiky-looking desert plant. If you are the new mezcal drinker among the group person who finishes the bottle of mezcal has to eat the worm. Follow @mezcalreviews Robust. (While Jimenez is referring specifically to her brand, Yola Mezcal, by Mexican law, all mezcal must contain 100 percent agave.). As I drink down more of my open bottles, I am discovering this. 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. Of those, slightly more than half (51 percent) reported also feeling depressed, and 61 percent reported feelings of anxiety. There has never been a "worm" at the bottom of a Tequila bottle. Casamigos tequila takes things slow. I was just asking somebody about this two days ago. I think that it is linked to the religious parties in the towns in honor of each towns patron saint.. Some of the ingredients in even smaller concentrations can affect the aromas and taste. 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. Still, for this reason, choosing to drink mezcal every night in moderation, of course doesn't sound so bad. Notes of white pepper, salt, corn nuts. So, in addition to getting enough calcium, vitamin D, and exercise, you may want to consider deciding to drink mezcal every night to help strengthen your bones, especially if you're older. Mezcaleroes are loosing me as a customer Im headed back over to the sweet cooked agave (additive free) Tequila camp. This translates roughly to "oven-cooked agave" and refers to the production process of mezcal. Whats your ritual for keeping mezcal after the bottle is opened (assuming you dont just drink it)?