WORM Adventure!!

Worms

Abstract:  WORMS, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!

Introduction:  

Fig 1.  (Not pictured: this man's dignity)

      Worms can be defined as any of the various invertebrates that have elongate, sometimes flattened (platy flaties) bodies often without appendages (1).  They are a very important part of our ecosystem and take on much of the duties of decomposition to make fertile soil (2).  They are often used by the show Fear Factor to freak people out, usually with placement on the body, typically with the addition of dirt. This combination of slimy and slithery tends to freak people out.  The slime is actually excreted by the worm because it needs to stay moist so it can breath (3).  

     Well, that's all well and good, but if you're anything like me (and I know that's the case), you totally love Halloween (TWIST!).  Well it is just around the corner and I am just tickled orange and black about it!!  So, this lead me to the line of thinking as follows, "Me?" "Yes Me?"  "What would be a good snack on Halloween?" "I don't know, you should ask someone who drinks a lot to maybe combine alcohol and worms."  "What a fantastic idea!"  That is preciously what I did and thus the idea of alcoholic gummi worms was born.  I decided I must make them and perform an experiment to find the best alcohol/gummi combination!!

Materials:

Fig 2.  I have accumulated quite a bit of liquor!

- A plethora of different Alcohol (I chose little airplane bottles because they're so cute!)

- Gummi related paraphernalia 

Methods:

1)  Set up gummi objects in booze as follows:

Fig 3. A-C:  Various gummi set ups, they all looked pretty much like this, but I included the one's that I thought looked the best/had sassy pictures on the label.

        (A)                                                                (B)                                                            (C)

     A)  Tequila Gummi Worms

     B)  Courvoisier Gummi Worms

     C)  Gin Gummi Worms

     D)  Brandy Gummi Worms

     E)  Captain Morgan Gummi Worms

     F)  Pear Vodka Gummi Worms

     G)  Vodka Gummi Worms

     H)  Sugar Cane Rum Gummi Worms

     I)  Whipped Cream Vodka Gummi Worms

     J)  Vodka Sour Gummi Worms

     H)  Vodka Sour Patch Kids

2)  Cover and allow to marinate for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Fig 4.  This is my fridge, chill out and don't judge me!

3)  CONSUME/get crunk!

Results and Discussion:

Fig 5.  I'd say they about doubled in size, this would have been a perfect time to get a comparison shot of before and after, but I didn't so now we both have to live with that!

     The worms really expanded in size, I hadn't realized before that the heads were so round!  Would that make them more gummi snakes than worms? I would recommend completely submerging the worms next time as some had crunchy bits in them, which was somewhat distracting to the palate.

     For this experiment I required the assistance of my lovely and talented friend Kate.  She is a professional food taster (allegedly) and works with alcohol.  The following are the comments and score for each combo.

     Fig 6.  Me (left) and Kate (right) about to seriously masticate/drink (drasticate?) some worms!

A)  Tequila Gummi Worms-  Similar to a margarita, Ole!  Although Kate found them "somewhat offensive" (Kate- 7/10; Me- 6/10)

B)  Courvoisier Gummi Worms-  Reminds me of the Nineties with that rapper song, "Pass the Courvoisier." Things were all going deliciously until I swallowed and then it had a big ol' aftertaste.  (Kate-3/10; Me: 3/10)

C)  Gin Gummi Worms-  Just like Christmas time, sugarplums and pine trees...ahhh.  Kate's take:  When it hits the bitter portion of my tongue...things go to hell.  (Kate-4/10;  Matt-5/10)

D)  Brandy Gummi Worms-  We both agreed they were not very remarkable and not entirely unpleasant.  (Kate- 5/10; Me- 5/10)

E)  Captain Morgan Gummi Worms-  I enjoy a little bit of Capt in me now and again and this worm was no different!  Kate's take:  The spiciness is good, more of a "people pleaser", definitely better than the brandy. (Kate- 6/10; Me- 5/10)

F)  Pear Vodka Gummi Worms-  Nothing really offensive about it, not really blown away by the flavor combo.  (Kate-5/10; Me- 5/10)

G)  Vodka Gummi Worms-  These really maintained the gummi flavor and were quite pleasant. Kate's take:  They have a pleasant alcohol burn no weird flavors. (Kate- 8/10; Me-9/10)

H)  Sugar Cane Rum Gummi Worms- These had a lot of an alcohol kick and didn't have too bad of a flavor.  (Kate- 7.5/10.25; Me- 7.75/10)

I)  Whipped Cream Vodka Gummi Worms-  These were very nice and creamy tasting, you really couldn't taste the alcohol, which is very dangerous.  Kate's take:  If you want a booty call you get your booty call to eat some of these, than you find a dark corner and... (Kate- 7/10; Me- 8/10)

(A)         (B)
Fig 7.  A)  My "ruminating" face B) Kate likes it!

J)  Vodka Sour Gummi Worms-  Soft and tender texture, somewhat gritty.  Kate's take:  As disappointing as "Mr. Softy."   (Kate- 0/10; Me- 1/10)

(A)      (B)

Fig 8.  A-B.  We did not enjoy the sour gummi worm monstrosities, these are our "dissapointed" faces, take note, it may help you in the future!

H)  Vodka Sour Patch Kids-  Pretty tasty, although the texture was all wrong, very mealy.  Kate's take:  What happened friends? (Kate- 1/10; Matt- 2/10)

(A)    (B)

                                  Fig 9. A)  Before, looks somewhat suspicious  B) Gross Kate...Gross.

     Our favorites that we thought would be the best party snack food were the regular vodka worms and the tequila ones.  You'll notice as the sampling went on the notes became somewhat more confusing, this is mainly due to the fact that you can't really tell how much alcohol they absorb.  All I can say is we were feeling fine by the end of our tasting.

Literature Cited:

1)  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/WORM

2)  My Brain

3) http://www.worm-farming.com/worm-facts.html