Box Vox

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August 19, 2011

Worm Bottles

WormBottles

“Worm bottles”—3 kinds:

1. The Lucas Gusano Liquid Candy Bottle

LucasGusanoOn left: photo of Lucas Gusano candy bottle by Elías Arriazola Lujambio; on right: Lucas Gusano packet & “Salsaghetti” (from Brian Temple’s Flickr Photostream)

You may recognize the Lucas Gusano bottle as another “accordion bottle” of the type we were looking at yesterday. (“Cool collapsible container contracts like an accordion!”)

The segmented shape of the bottle, however, in this case is also a metaphor for “gusano” — the Spanish word for “worm”— specifically, for the type of segmented larva that may or may not be a valid addition to certain alcoholic beverages made in Mexico.

Interestingly, this product also comes in a packet as a hot “salsa” sauce for the gummy worms of Lucas’s “Salsaghetti” candy. Mixing flavors, food ethnicities and metaphors with equal abandon, this candy-as-Mexican/Italian-spaghetti-as-worms product also includes a bit of cross-marketing in the form of a “Gusano” packet. Note how the packet features an illustration of a squirting Gusano candy bottle. (See also: Lucas “Crazy Hair” Candy)

2. Casta Gusano Real Reposado “Worm Bottle”

Casta-gusano-real-worms

Casta Gusano Real Reposado is a tequila that comes in a figural, worm shaped bottle, but among true tequila aficionados, the reasons are controversial.

These whimsical bottles always turn a few heads. This product used to be called Gusano Real but the name was later changed to “Casta — Worm Bottle.” When I first saw these I thought they were a major tequila blunder propagated by one of the most common myths and misnomers about tequila. The fact that you’re reading this page means you probably know there are no worms in tequila at all (worms are put in some brands of Mezcal) and thank goodness there is no worm in this particularly good reposado. However, Gusanos (worms) commonly live inside agave plants, and this being a 100% Agave Tequila, distilled & bottled in Mexico, is, I’m sure where the image comes from. Plus a cool looking bottle doesn’t hurt if you’re marketing Tequila.

Poco Tequila

That’s right. It was never tequila that was supposed to have a worm. It was mezcal. (Sometimes.)

It is a misconception 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 Hypopta agavis that lives on the agave plant. Finding one in the plant during processing indicates an infestation and, correspondingly, a lower quality product. However this misconception continues, and even with all the effort and marketing to represent tequila as a premium—similar to the way cognac is viewed in relation to brandy—there are some opportunist producers for the shooters-and-fun market who blur these boundaries.

Wikipedia entry on Mezcal

Which brings us to #3…

3. Bottles containing worms

Gusano-MezcalOn left: Gusano de Maguey in a bottle, waiting to be added to finished Mezcal (via: Wikipedia); on right a mini-bottle of Mezcal with large gusano (photo by Bud Spencer)

Alternate photo caption: Why settle for one measly worm at the bottom of a bottle of mezcal when you could be enjoying an entire jug?

Conclusions? If you’re like me (too old for gummy worms, but have not yet even tasted mezcal), I say: “Don’t get pressured into eating the souvineer gusano!” Choosing not to ingest this 1940s marketing gimmick does not make you culturally shallow or otherwise inauthentic. It just makes you less of a carnival geek.

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

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