Tequila Sunrise

Glass Vase, plastic sectional ball & worm

100 diameter x 240mm

Personal Archive M59, Depot 2025

The worm in tequila bottles actually originated as a marketing strategy rather than a tradition or functional purpose.

The worm, typically a larva of the moth species Comadia redtenbacheri, is found in some bottles of mezcal (not tequila, strictly speaking). In the 1940s and 1950s, mezcal producer Jacobo Lozano Páez added the worm to his bottles as a marketing gimmick to set his product apart. Over time, this became an iconic, though somewhat misunderstood, symbol associated with mezcal.

The Tequila Sunrise cocktail originated in the 1930s or 1940s at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. The original version was made with tequila, soda water, lime juice, and crème de cassis, creating a layered, sunrise-like appearance.