# Active ingredient in Tequila? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185 "2002-12-07T20:44:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elephant\_shoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@elephant\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elephant_shoes)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/1 "2002-12-07T20:44:46Z")
I tried to do a search on this, but couldn’t come up with the right phrasing. My friend, a most experienced drinker, had a horrible episode last night after drinking a couple of shots with small amounts of tequila in them. He ended up with tunnel vision, was very disoriented, and ended up vomiting for a good part of the night and this morning. He’s still in pretty fragile shape, after drinking what would have amounted to less than 2 ounces of the stuff. He’s had a couple of these episodes in the past, so, naturally, he makes sure that any shot he drinks doesn’t have any tequila in them. Sure enough, he asked if there was any in these shots, and he was told no. After he drank them, he was told that yes, in fact, there was tequila in them. Ha ha. Very funny. Less than an hour later, he was in rotten shape. Question: Is there something in tequila, that isn’t in other drinks, that causes him to suffer so? Is this active ingredient in any other foods or drinks? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/2 "2002-12-07T21:24:40Z")
Blue Agave. Tequila is made from the suculant blue agave. It looks like a cactus but technically it’s not. It is also called the century plant. I have tons of them on my property in Arizona. Your friend is most likely allergic to the agave. However, it is not uncommon to have an exceptionally cloudy day after a night of binge drinking tequila… 🙂 …Stay away my fren, stay away… ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/3 "2002-12-07T21:30:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elephant shoes \* > \*\*I tried to do a search on this, but couldn’t come up with the right phrasing. \*\* Well, we’ve come full circle. If the internet doesn’t have it, maybe [the dictionary](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tequila) will. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BioHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@BioHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BioHazard)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/4 "2002-12-07T22:05:14Z")
The drink Elements: Rain has blue agave in it. Does he get sick from that? ---
**Author:** ![elephant\_shoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@elephant\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elephant_shoes)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/5 "2002-12-08T01:38:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > \*\*Well, we’ve come full circle. If the internet doesn’t have it, maybe [the dictionary](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tequila) will. 🙂 \*\* I’m glad there was a smiley at the end of your post, **RM Mentock** , otherwise, you might have gotten my back up a little bit. 🙂 I love my dictionary, and use it more than the average bear. I did look it up in my Oxford, as well as on the 'net. I could have been more specific: I know that tequila is made from blue agave. But is nothing else added to it, to make tequila? ---
**Author:** ![elephant\_shoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@elephant\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elephant_shoes)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/6 "2002-12-08T01:41:01Z")
Oh, and thanks for the tip, **BioHazard**. I don’t know if he’s tried it. I’ll look for it, next time I’m at the cornershop. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/7 "2002-12-08T02:02:46Z")
The Elements line of beverages are bottled by Snapple, if this helps the search any. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/8 "2002-12-08T11:02:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elephant shoes \* > \*\*I could have been more specific: I know that tequila is made from blue agave. But is nothing else added to it, to make tequila? \*\* Worms I’m kidding. Not all tequila has worms. And perhaps there are some brands of tequila that have other additives. I think that Biohazard’s suggestion would be an interesting experiment. You might want to mix some of it with straight grain alcohol though, otherwise the effect might not be as pronounced. New meaning to the snap in Snapple. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/9 "2002-12-08T11:31:10Z")
[Here’s Cecil on the subject of worms in Tequila.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990702b.html) ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/10 "2002-12-08T12:23:29Z")
\*\*Active ingredient in Tequila? \*\* Alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/11 "2002-12-08T15:37:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AWB \* > \*\*\*\*Active ingredient in Tequila? \*\* > > Alcohol. \*\* Hooray! The answer!! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/12 "2002-12-08T16:17:44Z")
Actually, I was about to say alchohol too… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/13 "2002-12-08T16:39:37Z")
“…and the worms ate into his brain.” --Pink Floyd’s The Wall ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/14 "2002-12-08T16:59:44Z")
This could also be a tequila-induced migraine, accompanied by vomiting. As a migraine suffferer, I can tell you different kinds of booze affect me in different ways. Some kinds are almost guaranteed to give me a headache. This is why I drank rum-and-tonics all summer. I can have them with absolutely no ill effects. (For conoisseurs, I use Don Q crystal rum and add lime and a dash of bitters.) ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/15 "2002-12-08T17:30:31Z")
Actually tequila is quite different than other liquors. It is included with other “natural” neurotransmitter mimickers such as marijuana and peyote. They actually fit into the receptors in your CNS (central nervous system) and produce euphoria in ways that alcohol can’t. The alcohol is just an added benefit…🆒 Many people can’t handle tequila, whereas they might do fine with bourbon or some other alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/16 "2002-12-08T17:37:44Z")
I don’t know if this link goes into the chemical analysis or not but it’s a pretty good tequila site:[http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/mexdrinks.html](http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/mexdrinks.html) thanks to \*\*Pantellerite \*\* for this link…🙂 Peace ---
**Author:** ![TheLadyLion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d78d45/32.png) [@TheLadyLion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLadyLion)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/17 "2002-12-08T21:09:39Z")
My guess is your friend’s reaction is indeed attributable to the blue agave. I work as a chemical dependency counselor, and almost without exception, my alcoholic clients will tell me of severe adverse physical reactions they have had to tequila that they have not had with other types of alcohol. People often get disoriented, violent and extremely ill when they have ingested tequila… these are all typical of an allergic reaction. Of course, they are also signs of inebriation as well! But tequila seems to be particularly likely to produce these types of reactions in people, even “seasoned veterans” in the area of alcohol consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/18 "2002-12-09T15:33:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > > thanks to \*\*Pantellerite \*\* for this link…🙂 > \*\* No problem! Otherwise, I, too, was just going to come in here to post “Alcohol”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/19 "2002-12-09T17:53:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > \*\*Actually tequila is quite different than other liquors. It is included with other “natural” neurotransmitter mimickers such as marijuana and peyote. They actually fit into the receptors in your CNS (central nervous system) and produce euphoria in ways that alcohol can’t. \*\* That’s fascinating. I’ll have to look into this more. During grad school, I found I have an affinity for good tequila (sometimes I think it helped me get _through_ grad school). I always wondered why drinking tequila made me feel different than, say, drinking vodka; I wasn’t sure if it was because we tended to have fun groups of people over for the tequila nights, or if I was just being subjective. I am also amazed at the variety and range of quality of tequilas. The ones at $100+ per bottle are actually amazingly good, and make good sipping drinks. Most people are shocked to find that out… … though probably not as shocked as having me post in a tequila thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185/20 "2002-12-09T18:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\*… though probably not as shocked as having me post in a tequila thread. 😉 \*\* I had to scroll up to check out your name after that last sentence. I was kinda hoping it would say **His4Ever**. Ah, well. One can’t have everything, I suppose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/active-ingredient-in-tequila/141185.md?page=2)