Tequila worms????????

Question

What is a tequila worm my parents have a bottle of tequila in the house we got in mexico with a worm in it .its old so im not gonna drink it or anything but it looks so gross . people actually eat them ?????????

Answer 1

first of all, that is probably mezcal. the addition of a worm to regular tequila is not allowed in mexico. mezcal has a smoky aftertaste. the worm is considered a delicacy in mexico.

The worm

The worms as served at Restaurante Villa Maria in Polanco, Mexico City.

The worms as served at Restaurante Villa Maria in Polanco, Mexico City.

The "worm" (sometimes more than one) commonly seen in bottles of mezcal is actually the larva of one of two kinds of insects. The most common type is that of the agave snout weevil. [1] [2] The "red worm" or gusano rojo is the caterpillar of the Hypopta agavis moth, one of the several kinds of "maguey worm", found on the agave plant. (Agave worms are sometimes found in the piña after harvesting). Many brands contain such worms. Some are named after the worm itself, as in Gusano Rojo and some are even named for the number of worms, e.g. Dos Gusanos, "Two Worms". Inside the mezcal, however, the worm is more a marketing substance, as it has lost its nutrients inside the bottle.

When a worm is included, the mezcal is known as con gusano ("with worm"). Aside from its consumption with mezcal, the maguey worm is considered a delicacy in Mexico and can be found on restaurant menus throughout the nation.

The use of the worm is exclusive to mezcal, since the Mexican standards authority, Norma Oficial Mexicana (NOM), prohibits adding insects or larvae to tequila.

Answer 2

They are the larval (caterpillar) form of a moth that feeds on the agave plant that's used to make tequila.  It was started in the 1940s by someone in Mexico as a marketing gimmick that spread to the US via Tijuana.  The larva has been soaking in alcohol for a long time, so eating it is like taking a drink.

I've never eaten one, but I ate a fried grasshopper once.  Salty, kind of crunchy, no other flavor to speak off.  I imagine the  tequila moth is the same way.

Answer 3

What I always wondered about when it comes to the worms in mezcal, is there a big barrel of worms and who has the nasty job of putting them in the bottles?