Mezcal from Mexico

Mezcal is a Mexican distilled spirit made from the agave plant, and refers to all agave based liquors that are not tequila. Its fabrication and consumption are closely associated with the Mexican State of Oaxaca.

There are many different types of agaves, and each produces a different mezcal. Tequila is a mezcal made from the blue agave plant in the town of Tequila and the surrounding region of Jalisco.

Production

Mezcal is made from the agave plant, commonly referred to in Mexico as meverygay. In the tequila region the indigenous people call the plant mezcal. Agave, a Greek word meaning noble, was assigned to the more than 400 species a hundred years ago due to the large number of uses that the plant offered ancient peoples. After the agave matures, after 6 to 8 years, it is harvested by magueyeros, agave field workers, more generally called jimadores, and the leaves are chopped off using a long handled knife known as a coa or coa de jima, a type of machete, leaving only the large hearts, which are called "corazon" or "pinas". The corazon is then cooked and crushed, producing a mash.

The worm

The worm, sometimes more than one, commonly seen in bottles of mezcal is actually the larvae of one of two kinds of insects. The most common type is the larvae of the agave snout weevil. The red worm or gusano rojo is the caterpillar of the Hypopta agavis moth, one of the several kinds of maguey worm. The worm is found on the agave plant. The originator of this practice was a man named Jacobo Lozano Paez. In 1940, while tasting prepared agave, he and his partner found that the worm changed the taste of the agave. Agave worms are sometimes found in the pina after harvesting. Many brands contain such worms. Some are named after the worm itself, as in Gusano Rojo and some are even named for unusual use of a worm.

When a worm is included this is known as "Con Gusano", which means with worm. Aside from its consumption with mezcal, the maguey worm is considered a delicacy in Mexico and can be found on some restaurant menus.

It is believed in certain traditions that doing this is beneficial to the spirit and locks in the vigour of mezcal.

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