No Mas Tequila!

"No mas, no mas!" is how Sammy Hagar ends his song called Mas Tequila.  But he begins it with, "I'm goin' way down south where the big blue Agave grow, Takin' a weekend trip down to Baja Mexico, Where you can drink the water, but don't ya eat the ice, Take your vitamin T with salt and a lemon slice."  Well, we aren't in Mexico and we aren't drinking our Tequila with salt and a lemon slice, but yet a worm? Holy Hell! Yep, here we stand with a worm filled shot of Tequila in our hands ready to toss it down the hatch. Now this worm in the Tequila thing is nothing new, but it's something we have never done before. Guess you could call us a couple of dumbass gringa girls because this is not one of our smartest moves, but it does make for a good story. Have you ever heard of drinking the worm in Tequila? Well, actually there is no worm in Tequila. Officially, it comes in a drink call Mezcal which is "Tequila's big brother." Tequila is made in Mexico and can only be called Tequila if it's 51% Agave - Mezcal on the other hand, must be 100% Agave in order to earn it's name. But it is said that some really smart business men came up with a gimmick or great marketing ploy (back in the 1950's) by putting a worm into their Tequila and claiming if you drank it, it would result in having an aphrodisiac or hallucinogen type effect. Some also believe that it's like taking a shot (eating the Tequila soaked worm) resulting in getting them drunk faster. Well it obviously worked because dumbass gringos are drinking this shit and eating worms all over the world. Case in point, The Black Box Wine Mavens. Now this was not something we set out to do and cross off our bucket list, yet rather, it was a challenge presented to us.  It just so happens that we were at a fine Mexican Establishment called Benji's Cantina located @ 716 W. Sixth Street, Austin, TX which has the BEST fajitas in Austin. It's a beautiful place with the coolest, upstairs and outdoor patio overlooking Sixth Street (look for our blog about this restaurant soon).

Our friend Nick (isn't he handsome?) manages the place and thought it would be funny to see us squirm a little (or a lot ) by making us these Tequila worm concoctions.

Some people say that drinking it this way is "cheating" because the worm is not actually in the bottle. We, however, see it as a brilliant business move by the guys at Benji's because there is literally more worm to go around.  In other words, they can make some serious buck by offering ten worm shots at once as opposed to waiting for that last pour of the bottle to get "the one lone worm." It's genius.... Anyone so completely insane (or drunk enough) can have their worm and eat it too. Sure you can suck on it (but why would you?) or chew it if you really wanted to (ewwwwwe - again, why would you?), but the best way to eat it is to quickly swallow it whole and hope it doesn't tickle your throat or get stuck on the way down. Now again, we did not set out to do this but the dare presented itself to us or shall we say was shoved down our throats (by our dear friend, no less).

No, we didn't get all excited and jump up on the bar and yell, "Hell yes, let's eat this bitch!" Jenn was more like, "Really? Ewwwwe! Let's think about this." While Richelle said, " We can't think about it, we just have to go for it." As we are contemplating this idea, we start talking about the show The Amazing Race and how we should be on it because we feel we'd be a great team and could provide some good entertainment. As a matter of fact, if we were on that show right now and this was the challenge presented to us, then this would be a no brainer because Richelle would eat the worm and Jenn would offer support and cheer her on. You see, we have already discussed this and both of us agreed that Richelle would do all the eating weird things challenges (creepy crawlers or strange meat like innards or tongues or brains) and Jenn would lie in the glass case with snakes crawling all over her. Seems like a fair trade off, no?

It's funny because Jenn has a really weak stomach when it comes to eating bugs and horrible stinky smells and once her gag reflex kicks in, it's hard to stop it. She has always said that throwing up is the one thing she hates doing most in the world, so we're not sure how this is going to go down (or come up). Yet she can handle snakes crawling all over her? Go figure! We continue giving ourselves a pep talk because one minute Richelle is ready to go for it and Jenn is not and then Jenn is ready and Richelle is not. Actually if it's taking us this long already, maybe we shouldn't do it - or it could be that we haven't had enough to drink because our inhibitions are still in tact.

Then the countdown begins: One Tequila, two Tequila, three Tequila ... Wait, don't rush us.

And down the hatch it finally goes:

Well, almost ... Once Jenn starts thinking about that worm she can't quite seem to finish the shot and begins to gag and gag and gag. Oh noooooo!!!

Luckily, she was able to contain herself but was still feeling a bit ill at the thought. Richelle, however, swallowed hers like a champ and felt a sense of pride - like, Hell yeah, I did it!!  And it shows don't ya think?

It was a challenge that was hard to swallow, but Richelle was able to rise up and grab that worm by it's cojoñes and ... what was that? Worms don't have balls you say? Well, as a matter of fact, they do. Here's a little tid bit of information for ya, they actually have both male and female sex organs but their balls are hidden in the clitellum close to their head. So in reality they could actually get away with the term "thinking with the little head?" Hmmmmm, very interesting wouldn't you say so, fellas? Anyway, we are way off course - back to the challenge. Jenn was a bit disappointed with herself that she couldn't go through with it, but at least she gave it a good try. It's probably better in the long run, because those gag reflexes could have turned out to be a complete disaster. Our friend Kenneth ended up finishing Jenn's worm - he said it was protein and that it shouldn't go to waste. 

And that is why, if we are ever contestants on The Amazing Race, Richelle will be eating all things disgusting - because she can do it.  Thank goodness we had some yummy Sangria swirl Margaritas to wash it all down with.

But at the end of the night we had to wonder, if it was in fact a myth, about the worm making you much more drunk. For example, Jenn did not eat the worm and was able to sit upright all night while Richelle um, not so much. She ate the worm and her head ended up on the bar as she mumbled the words, "Dude, I think I'm drunk" over and over again. And Jenn was sitting right next to her partner in crime, stroking her hair, giving her food and water and even finnishing her untouched drink. It takes a real friend to step up to the plate and drink your unwanted margarita, so that it doesn't go to waste. Yep folks, we make an amazing team don't we? But in the end ... No mas. No mas Tequila for The Mavens. We'll stick to wine.