Truly Hard Seltzer Pays Homage to the Infamous ‘Tequila Worm’ With Boozy Chamoy Gummy Worm Set

(Photo: Truly Hard Seltzer)

Truly Hard Seltzer is expanding its recently launched Tequila Soda line with a sugary reinterpretation of the oft-reviled tequila worm.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, the brand has released a limited-edition Fiesta Pack bundled up with all four Truly Tequila Soda flavors alongside taco holders, pennant flags and spicy gummy worms. In keeping with the theme, the worms are coated in chamoy, a fan-favorite Mexican condiment typically made with a combination of fruit juice, lime and dried chiles.

According to Truly, the worms are best enjoyed within a specialty cocktail recipe (“cocktail recipe,” in this case, is interpreted quite loosely). Drinkers are encouraged to rim a glass with salt or Tajin, drop a couple of worms to the bottom and fill it with tequila soda to their heart’s content. The result sounds like a ranch water concoction that would be served at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Featuring the brand’s Lime, Grapefruit, Watermelon and Pineapple Guava flavors, the Fiesta Pack is now available here for $25.

For decades, rumors surrounding the mysterious “tequila worm” have spread like wildfire across college campuses and dimly lit dive bars. Most of this folklore omits the fact that the wriggly critters have nothing to do with tequila, nor are they even worms.

The practice was popularized in the 1940s with mezcal brands like Monte Alban. As legend goes, the “worms” were used as an age-old litmus test. Distillers would drop a live bug into a bottle of freshly distilled spirit; if it was still alive by the time it hit the bottom, the mezcal was safe to drink. If not, the batch was deemed unsafe for human consumption.

Many have alleged that the story is pure fiction.

These days, it’s widely agreed that the worms were devised as a clever marketing ploy to distinguish mezcal brands on American liquor store shelves. Over the years, what began as a flashy gimmick became a ritual in the hands of consumers. Daring your friends to eat the worm at the bottom of the bottle became a thing of folklore, perfect for drunken antics and wistful storytelling the morning after.

In 2023, scientists dug even further and discovered that the “worms” are actually agave redworm moth larvae.

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