Rinsewind Posted January 29, 2006 Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what alkaloids if any are in agave, I've always been led to believe the worm in mescal drink lives on agave and is supposedly full of mesc [not that the worm did anything for me] - does it have any uses beyond ornamental. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amulte Posted January 29, 2006 i think it was Apo and YT i had a similar discussion withand i THINK we came to the conclusion its a marketing gimick. BUT if there is any evidence i would love to read it as i cant find anything apart from hearsay and would love the legend to be true, tho im afraid its not. ALTHOUGH - Its is an AWESOME placebo. i remember back in the day some people thought it was made of peyote and conatined massive lvls of mescalin. it doesnt but those who thought it did had a great experience. One time i had 3 worms and 'forgot' how to speak. id like to think there somthing in the Agave and there could be, maybe (wishful thinking), but i do doubt it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted January 29, 2006 Mescal, Mescaline and Agave are 3 completely different things. It is a common misconception among foreigners that some tequilas contain a 'worm' in the bottle. Only certain mezcals, usually from the state of Oaxaca, are ever sold con gusano, and that only began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s. The worm is actually the larval form of the moth Hipopta agavis that lives on the agave plant. Finding one in the plant during processing indicates an infestation and, correspondingly, a lower quality product. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tequila All of this has been discussed before though, a quick search would've yielded the answer to all your questions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted January 29, 2006 From what I understand the worm used to be a sign of good quality Taquila because if it had a high alcohol content the worm would be preserved but if it wasnt it would rot. Now its jst as you say, a marketing gimmic. I think the main confusion about the mescaline thing came about because of the drink "Mescal" which is a (fermented?) cactus juice drink with no hallucinogenic properties. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted January 29, 2006 Mescal is the Red Bean of Saphora secundiflora, there was a cult following of the stuff for a while. They'd drink Mescal succumb to convulsive delerium for a few days and some would even die. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted January 29, 2006 Meszcal is also a drink made from various Agaves. Tequila can only be made from A.tequilana (the blue agave), but meszcal can be made from various different ones. The worm is a gimmick. It was not used traditionally, but was a marketing idea that caught on real well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted January 29, 2006 Mmmm meszcal the brown stuff right?? We used to buy Monte' Alban meszcal in the mini bottles years ago and they each had a worm in 'em...I ate about 10 once thought I'd lost my stomach lining until I realised they were half chewed grubs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kakti Posted January 30, 2006 From what Ive read, the "strain" of agave that mezcal is made from was a special one reserved only for the Mayan King. It was much bluer than the standard form, and was specially propagated on a certain mountain. This could be all bullshit but thats what I read (I think from a little booklet that came with a bottle of mezcal) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted January 31, 2006 I did some reading a few weeks back and i believe there are 8 species used to make mezcal tequila is just one type and made from blue agave ( species as noted above) and only within one region but there are rare local types made from wild species that sound really interesting i am planning to import seed of several of these ive managed to identify ill have excess and agave is easy from seed any interest? if so ill stock some no luck getting agave azul seed tho. plants can be obtained but with all teh bullshit in importing plants.... thatll have to wait seed maybe a raity anyway as i hear its mostly clonal propagted thes days and you need two individuals to make seed - and it gets cut as its going to flower - and theres a shortage of plants all this makes seed even less likely i figure Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
in_spirit Posted March 22, 2006 i drank a 1ltr bottle of tequila over two nights my girlfriend got it in mexico, sh etold me i had passed out but walked to bed, where she laid beside me and had deep conversations with me and then she did some stuff which she said could have got her pregnant without my consent, etc etc etc she didn't take advantage of me though,, i was in a void anyway my eyes were open the whole time but I saw nothing I heard nothing and I remembered nothing. This bottle was Monte Alban tequila and the tag said in spanish " this drink will open the doors of perception." [GF was Sth American, she interpreted before i drank it ] I had eaten the worm which it said was used to indicate true tequila from agave as this worm only grows in..... etcetc Mezcal is the ferment of the agave like a wine or beer while tequila is the distillated product of Mezcal....Monte Alban is brown/yellow because it is aged in charred oak barrels, while other tequilas, white tequilas are aged un uncharred oak if at all... This is a true story Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted March 22, 2006 agave seed of one of the regional mezcals wish me luck nice big seeds im thinkin this will be easy.... any pointers? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whiterasta Posted March 28, 2006 Mezcal is the ferment of the agave like a wine or beer while tequila is the distillated product of Mezcal....Monte Alban is brown/yellow because it is aged in charred oak barrels, while other tequilas, white tequilas are aged un uncharred oak if at all... This is a true story The fermented juice is actually called Pulque in most regions I've been to. Distilled pulque yeilds products like Monte Alban(mezcal) and other true tequilas(Sauza,etc). As far as I know the bean called mescal is a poisonous deleriant used in rituals. WR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Posted March 29, 2006 I think i,ve id,d some large agaves nearby as agave americana"glauca" Do they have any uses?I plan on turning a flower stalk into a didge when I get a chance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted April 1, 2006 The first time I saw one in flower I thought"what a mad looking tree that is!" then I saw the base ^_^ there's quite a few around here too. I heard once of some aboriginal tribe using the flowers as their xmas tree...kinda weird when you think about it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Posted April 1, 2006 Some of the flower spikes are around 30 ft tall,they,re huge. Lots of little babies around so I might adopt one and bring it home with me.They dont seem to mind the ocean spray either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted April 2, 2006 (edited) whats the variegated one with a trunk? i grabbed a bag of pups from a city park and have a box of them now but still dont know their identity same goes for the blue one I have a tray of Agave salmiana coming up now only took a week http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Aga...e_salmiana.html next up Agave cupreata http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/neotrop...01/sep01-1.html http://www.farmingsolutions.org/successtor...ries.asp?id=78# a nice page on agave ethnobotany and history http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/agavepages/articles/articles.html Edited April 2, 2006 by Rev Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted April 3, 2006 I think the blue one is the one Andrew refers to as americana glauca which is basically cosidered a weed here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites