Why is there a worm in tequila?
The worm in the mezcal (tequila) bottle is a marketing gimmick. The worm is the agave worm. The originator of this practice was a man named Jacobo Lozano Pez. 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 pia after harvesting, a sign of badly chosen, infested, agave). In actuality, tequila is not allowed to contain the worm by law. Some brands associated with containing the worm are ‘Gusano de Oro’, ‘Gusano Rojo’, and ‘Dos Gusanos’.
