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The only tequila to contain a worm is certain mezcals, from the state of Oaxaca, and that only began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s. The worm is the larva of the moth (Hypopta agavis), which lives on the agaves plant. Now that the worm business is taken care of, let’s get on with it. Tequila is a distilled drink made from the blue agaves plant, in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, in the highlands of Jalisco (a Mexican State). Most Tequila has a 38–40% ABV, but can be produced between 31% and 55% ABV. The Aztec’s had made a fermented drink from the agaves plant, long before 1521 when the Spanish arrived. No one knows for sure exactly when the Aztec’s first made Tequila, probably in the late 15th century. In 1600, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, the Marquis of Altamira, began the first factory mass-producing tequila in the territory of modern-day Jalisco. Planting, tending, and harvesting the agaves plant remains a manual effort, largely unchanged by modern farm machinery and relying on centuries-old know-how. The men who harvest it, the Jimadores, have intimate knowledge of how the plants should be cultivated, passed down from generation to generation. There are two categories of tequila mixtos and 100% agaves. Mixtos use no less than 51% agaves (Jose Cuervo is 60% Agaves tequila and 40% Rum), using both glucose and fructose sugars. Tequila is usually bottled in one of five categories:

 Blanco  ("white") or plata ("silver")

 Joven  ("young") or oro  ("gold")

 Reposado  ("rested")

 Añejo  ("aged" or "vintage")

 Extra Añejo ("extra aged" or "ultra aged")                                                         

I hope you have a chance to try the different types of tequila, I’m sure you will find a favorite.  Cheers!

Tequila - What’s Up With The Worm?