Tequila is made primarily from the agave plant. This plant can be used in different percentages that effect the quality and classification of this spirit. To produce 100 percent agave tequila the distiller must gain permission from the federal office controlling tequila production. Then, while an inspector is present the tequila is produced without sugar added during fermentation or anytime throughout the distillation process. This type of tequila is the rarest and most expensive type of tequila produced. In addition to strict government regulation during the distilling process 100 percent agave must be bottled in Mexico. Certain myths exist regarding tequila one is that mezcal and tequila are the same thing and they are not. The comparison can be made with scotch and rye; both have similar components and characteristic, but are quite different. Tequila is made only from the blue variety agave plant (which is a succulent not a cactus) and mezcal can be made from five different varieties of agave.     The color of tequila depends on how long the spirit was aged. The process of distillation starts with the mature agave plant, which is steamed to extract the sap after which the sap ferments for 10 days and is added to fresh sap to ferment again, which produces wine. The wine is then double-distilled in pot-stills and can be exported immediately as white tequila. Any tequila that is not 100 percent agave can be bottled anywhere and can contain up to 49 percent sugar. This method drastically reduces the cost and allows for the use of immature agave plants during production. White tequila isn't aged it can be exported immediately and can be bottled in other countries. Silver tequila is aged in wax-lined vats and produces a milder taste for the palate than white tequila, but remains colorless. Aged tequila must be aged for a minimum of one year in government sealed barrels and finally Gold Tequila has no Mexican government regulations regarding aging this product, but producers claim it is aged in white oak casks for anywhere from two to four years. Other resources indicate that Gold Tequila can also be unaged and the government allows additives for color and flavor.     And finally what you have all been waiting for: information about the worm. Well, its bullshit. No worm exists in Mexican bottled tequila. Rumor has it that the worm was first introduced in the 1940s simply as a promotional device. It is true you can find the worm, which has no hallucinogenic qualities, nor does it act as an aphrodisiac, in some American bottled tequila, sorry to say it is little more than a marketing ploy. So if you happen to have a bottle of tequila with a worm in it chances are it is American and mezcal. If you eat the worm and you feel strange after swallowing it is more likely the effect of consuming a bottle of alcohol rather than the worm at the bottom, which is little more than pickled protein. -- Summer Miller