Mezcal with a worm and a caterpillar: what it is and how to drink it

Briefly about the drink

Mezcal - is any strong Mexican alcohol obtained as a result of double distillation of brew from the juice of some types of agave. The strength of the drink varies between 38 and 43 degrees. Mezcal can be either a pure distillate of agave brew or a drink enriched with a variety of fruits, spices, and even honey.

Among the most common brands, it is worth highlighting: "Mescal Monte Alban", "Mescal El Senorio", "Mescal Divino" and "Mescal Beneva".

How to drink mezcal

1. Neat and without appetizer

   Savoring 50 ml from narrow glasses. If you want to fully experience all the delights of Mexican flavor, you should replace the above-mentioned glasses with halves of small dried pumpkins.

2. The national way

   Mezcal is washed down with 50-80 ml of sangrita.

3. We hit the table

   And we drink a glass containing mezcal and tonic (greetings from tequila boom).

4. The wheel is the same, "lick-turn-bite"

   Instead of lemon or lime, an orange is used, and instead of regular salt, worm salt is used. The latter is a mixture of salt, chili pepper, and dried agave caterpillar powder. Very often, bags of this exotic seasoning are sold with mezcal.

The difference between mezcal and tequila

To answer this question briefly, we need to recall the classic principle concerning cognac: any cognac - it is a brandy, but not every one brandy - cognac.

And so it is in our case: any tequila is mezcal, but not every mezcal is tequila.

Thus, in the future, it will be more appropriate to talk about how tequila differs from other varieties of mezcal, which, by the way, number more than a hundred.

1. Place of production

   According to the Mexican law, only drinks produced in the state of Jalisco and several neighboring states located on the east coast of the country can be considered tequila.

   As for mezcal in general, it is produced in an artisanal or semi-artisanal way throughout Mexico.

   Industrial production of this drink is limited to the states: Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Durango and San Luis Potosí, which have nothing to do with tequila.

2. Raw material moment

   If only blue agave juice is used for the production of tequila, the producers of other types of mezcal do not set themselves such restrictions.

   For their purposes, they use different types of this plant, for example: American agave or potato agave.

3. Difference in production technology

   Tequila is the only type of mezcal to which sugar is usually added.

   Producers of other varieties of this traditional Mexican drink consider the use of sugar in their products as an outright profanation and almost undermining of national foundations.

4. Taste and smell

   We can say that tequila is the most cultivated representative of the mezcal family.

   In particular, it has a less intense flavor and less core aroma than its relatives, which are often just plain, unadulterated moonshine with all its pros and cons...

5. Attitude to the worm

   Tequila producers would never put an agave caterpillar carcass in a bottle of their drink.

   While in the case of other types of mezcal, this practice is quite common.

6. Some differences in the culture of consumption

   Tequila in Mexican style - in its pure form and without snacks - is drunk in a gulp.

   Other types of mezcal, as mentioned above, are sipped slowly and thoughtfully, like liqueur.

   Again, if ordinary salt is used when drinking tequila, then in the case of its many agave relatives - the so-called worm salt.

Why mezcal with a worm or caterpillar

In the early forties of the last century, in order to attract the attention of European connoisseurs of exotic alcohol, the practice of placing the larvae of a local butterfly that lives on agave in bottles of mezcal.

With the help of this technique, the producers of the drink sought to emphasize the authenticity of its origin, as well as to demonstrate the high quality of the alcohol, which does not allow the insect to decompose.

This practice gave rise to two special categories of the drink:

1. Mezcal with a worm

   This includes relatively unpretentious varieties of mezcal that contain the so-called "worm" - a golden caterpillar that lives on agave leaves and, accordingly, is more accessible to catch.

   

2. Mezcal with a caterpillar

   This is a more expensive aged alcohol containing the same caterpillar, only colored red. Unlike its less fortunate golden counterparts, such a caterpillar lives in the roots or in the core of the plant, which makes it somewhat more difficult to detect and catch it.

   

There is a lot to say about these caterpillars, which were named Juanito by the Mexicans.

First of all, everyone who wants to get involved in mezcal should know that under the influence of alcohol, both types of caterpillar, once in the bottle, lose their natural color.

Golden ones turn ash gray and red ones turn pale white. So that buyers do not suffer, trying in vain to see the cherished but colorless insect in the depths of the bottle, the corresponding vessels have a characteristic marking: "con gusano" or "with agave worm".

A whole bunch of myths have already grown around the cherished larva. Thus, with the light hand of fantasists from among the producers of mezcal, there were stories about the enchanting effects of using an insect as a male aphrodisiac, as well as the possibility of using it as a kind of "key" to parallel worlds...

Insidious tequila producers, in order to spite their competitors, spread rumors about the hallucinogenic properties of the said insects. At the same time, in fact, the larvae are absolutely prosaic. Insects specially grown on ecologically clean plants do not cause any hallucinations, however, they are also not suitable for achieving acute erotic or mystical sensations.

Thus, the notorious larva can be safely eaten by dividing it equally among all participants of the feast, as is done in Mexico.

But if you are not in the company of Mexicans who are reverent about the ritual of eating caterpillars, then it will not be a big deal if you politely refuse such an exotic snack.

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that recently, mezcal producers have decided to go beyond the world of insects to enhance the effect.

From now on, you can find another inhabitant of the Mexican deserts - a scorpion, or at least the tail of this dangerous arthropod in a bottle of the drink.

As in the case of some other alcoholic beverages, a scorpion caught in mezcal loses its deadly power and serves only as a spectacular advertising attribute.

Update: 16.02.2016

Category: Tequila