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; THE WORM DOESN'T JUST AFFECT THE MARKETING; IT ACTUALLY CHANGES THE DRINK'S CHEMISTRY. You'll pick up a gentle smokiness that makes the Mezquila great for adventurous . Whiskey connoisseur? It surely has something to do with the $$$ part! We love esters in spirits because they are associated with positive smells and flavors like banana, pineapple, and sugar. Aging in glass, however, imparts no new flavors. And that's bad news for your kidneys. Some have posited that oxygen or oxidization would have a negative impact on the spirits over time. His theory is based on what hes seen in his native Guerrero with another pest: the xumilin, or chumilin, a sort of south-of-the-border stinkbug. Worm salt, or sal de gusano in Spanish, is exactly what it sounds like. "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. But it is pronounced mescal. Robust. The word "mezcal" comes from the term mexcalli. Hey guys, I just read this not sure if I saw it the first time! 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. (Technically, this makes tequila a type of mezcal.) Emily Dryden. 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. While the scientists didn't examine the eugenol in mezcal specifically, it's likely that eugenol from any source would have this effect. Are gusanos a gimmick, a tradition, a resource to maximize flavor or one to mask imperfections in the mezcal? Sometimes thats for medicinal purposes, where the adjunct is most often plants; sometimes its for ceremonial or celebratory purposes, where its most often fruits and proteins, such as turkey or chicken. That might make them more palatable for some drinkers but serious mezcal lovers tend to go for 45 proof and up. 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. Acetaldehyde is present in a distilled mezcal. Mezcal means "oven-cooked agave", which is how the pina are cooked to extract the sugars that will be fermented and then distilled. Until 1994, nearly every bottle of mezcal legally exported to the USA had a gusano in it. So tequila is a type of mezcal, but mezcal is not tequila, and only mezcal has worms. So, back to the drowned worm. Long finish. Chris, Lighter nose and more creamy notes and vanilla on the palate. More mellow. Chris, Still strong aromas. The worm gives it flavor, he shared. It is similar to tequila, but has a smoky flavor. 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. Short finish. Tyler, Lavender flavors, a bit of alcohol present. Of the four mezcals included in this tasting, we preferred the Excess-air mezcal for three of them. 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. These little mezcal fun facts are explained in detail. Should the worm be denounced, embraced or just studied to better understand mezcals history? In fact, inflammation can be both a good and a bad thing, depending on how long it lasts, as noted by Harvard Medical School. 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. Let's set things straight here. Acetaldehyde is present in a distilled mezcal. A team of molecular biologists study the chemical composition of mezcal and 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. 2: It Gives The Power To The Drinker. While people who drink mezcal every night may like to highlight the spirit's purity, mezcal, like all alcoholic beverages, contains the chemical ethyl carbamate, which has been linked to various types of lung, liver, and blood cancer. 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. Appreciate the update PhD! 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. The bottle would no longer be considered "tequila" under the denomination of origin. 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. BOWEN, Sarah (2015), Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal and The politics of production, University of California Press, California, USA. There are many more 250ml bottles in Oaxaca these days. Joyas Oaxaqueas Blanco con Gusano. Similar tasting notes but less pronounced. Unlike tequila, which can be made with 51 percent blue agave and 49 percent added sugar from other sources [that could contain gluten], mezcal is made from 100 percent agave.". 99K views, 7.8K likes, 645 loves, 487 comments, 1.1K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Zack Mwekassa: La France trs en colre Nah, that was just some bullshit gimmick, I mean real, artesanal Mezcal made by hand in Mexico. 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. This translates roughly to "oven-cooked agave" and refers to the production process of mezcal. If you drink mezcal, you already know it always makes a big impression, whether sipped neat or mixed into a modern take on a classic cocktail like the margarita. Is it safe to drink? Heres another theory: The Mexican government asked farmers to send them samples of bugs that plagued their crops. Fattened on sweet agave nectar, they might be sauted and folded into warm tortillas or toasted and ground up with rock salt and . And although mezcal con gusano is less than 8% of whats on the market today, its still fairly common for people to think of mezcal as that stuff with the worm. Which begs the question. Its usually a red one, though sometimes youll see the white ones in mezcal. You could probably add a couple of cocktail ingredients to your list of foods you didn't know contain gluten. The ovens are deep pits lined with lava rocks that are . That sounds like an awesome experiment, very similar to ours. It has light density to the drinker's eye with a silver nuance and a pale-yellow color. In parts of Guerrero, theyll occasionally throw one into a mezcal bottle in the same way the Oaxacans throw in the gusano. Does mezcal with worm go bad? 14 (notice levels in each bottle), Soft sweet clay. Mezcal bottles with tequila worms are not uncommon. Worm salt is a mix of sea salt, ground agave larvae, and chile spices. And some agavero kept putting off sending in his gusano sampleand then finally drank it? So I guess you could call that pulque de gusano.. 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. 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 they were a tasty snack around Mexico. The mezcal worm began as a way to distinguish mezcal from tequila and was transformed into an added element of . Shutterstock. The race is on." 'That drink can't be rum and coke' Flowers. 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. 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 . 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. QuiQuiRiQui mezcal is handcrafted in Santiago de Matatln, Oaxaca state. 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.Apr 20, 2021 What proof should mezcal be? It's fiery stuff, real rotgut, with a worm floating in the bottom of the bottle -- at least, that's what most people think. But if you're one of the many Americans abstaining from gluten, there's no need to give up mezcal. The thought behind the gesture is that a high proof, high-quality spirit would preserve the insect and prevent it from rotting. If you're a fan of this smoky Mexican spirit, you probably think of mezcal as tequila's more sophisticated and complex older brother. If you do feel something after eating a mezcal worm it is a placebo effect. These larvae are called gusano and bottles of mezcal that contain the creepy critters are referred to as con gusano. Sources: For details about data sources used for food storage information, please click here. Some releases will be aged in glass for upwards of two or three years before being bottled for sales and general consumption. 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. The younger one looked at his drink and said, you know what we should do? 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.. "Mezcals with the worm have a greater amount of unsaturated compounds and unsaturated alcohols such as cis-3-Hexen-1-ol.". Tequila is also. It also had marginally lower ABV than the others. Yes, some bottles of mezcal include a creepy crawly surprise at the bottom, but no, it won't make you hallucinate if you drink mezcal and eat it. So 7 months was as long as we could resist temptation. Before sending the copies to our offices, add inside the container enough cotton or Kleenex paper to absorb the liquid. 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. "It has an aroma and a flavor that people like.". 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. BULLOCK, Tom (2017), The Mezcal experience, Quarto Publishing Group, London, UK. 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 short, the worm that you see in a bottle of mezcal was a marketing gimmick. By Heather Clark / April 16, 2020 10:19 am EST. Mezcal is a distilled spirit made from any type of agave plant. 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. The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? When exposed to air, this oxidizes to acetic acid, which is ester. He had it on his bar forever. 1: Worms In Mezcal Add Flavor To The Drink. As well, the competing brand Legitimo Mezcal de Oaxaca con su Propio Gusano (yeah, thats a mouthful) was trademarked in 1944. It may also have been made before that, but it became far more generalized after the revolution. Mezcal and tequila will stay deliciously enjoyable for years to come . Over time, this damages the cells in a process called oxidative stress.