Look what they put in mescal drinks in Mexico (TIKTOK)
The image of the tequila drink around the world is known - everyone has heard of this tequila with the worm that lives in the bottom of the bottle.
So it turns out that it's not tequila at all but mescal, and it's not a worm at all.
Mescal is a Mexican alcoholic drink made from the agave plant - a cactus-like plant that grows in Mexico.
2,000 years ago, the Indians who lived in the area discovered that as soon as they expose the juice of the agave plant to the air, fermentation takes place in it and it turns into an alcoholic drink with a milky color.
This is how the first version of the mescal was actually born, which is basically defined as "an agave-based alcoholic drink that is not tequila".
To be clear - all tequilas are mescal, but not all mescal is tequila.
The mescal can be made from over 25 types of agave, each of which gives the drink a different taste, while tequila is made from only one specific agave.
The mescal is often referred to as "the tequila with the worm" - this is due to the worm that appeared inside the drink and is primarily used as a marketing gimmick, when a claim about why it is inside the bottle is supposedly proof of the amount of alcohol in the drink (the alcohol preserves the worm).
Anyone want a worm scale?
There is no such thing (Photo: ShutterStock, RHJPhtotos)
Many legends have been woven around the worm in the drink over the years - starting with the fact that drinking it is an initiation ceremony and a proof of maturity and bravery, that it causes hallucinations, and even gives improved sexual abilities and increases male potency.
However, the New York Post reported that researchers from the University of Florida recently discovered that the "tequila worms" are not worms at all, they are actually moth larvae.
These "worms" are inserted into the drink bottle to enhance the color and taste of the alcohol.
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To the full article
The researchers extracted DNA from "worms" found in various brands of bottled mescal purchased between 2018 and 2022 from both Mexican and American distributors.
They tested and tested 18 DNA sequences and concluded that the "worms" were actually the larvae of an agave grass moth called Comadia redtenbacheri.
It's not a worm
According to the study published in PeerJ, the DNA of the moth larvae was more than 99% identical.
Researcher Akito Kawaihara told Fox News that while the conclusion was unexpected, he has no doubt that it is true.
"This was unexpected, because there was some debate in the literature about the specific species of the 'worm' found in the bottles, apart from the fact that it was known to be an insect," explained Kawahara.
"But it wasn't a butterfly or beetle larva, as some researchers thought."
Food
Wine and alcohol
Tags
Meskel
tequila
worms
moth
