Forget the traditional worm in your tequila bottle, a Perth entrepreneur has created an agave spirit with a bonus Witchetty Grub.

Australia’s Queen of Hot Sauce, Renae Bunster, has launched Bunsters Sh*t The Bed, the flagship product of Bunsters’ new range of spirits . ‘Shit the Bed Tequilana Agave Spirit’ features Silver Tequila with an ABV of 40% and natural notes of caramel, vanilla and honey. It’s been given an extra spicy kick with Charapita chillies, the most expensive chillies in the world.

“Technically we can’t call it ‘tequila’ as it wasn’t made in the region of Tequila in Mexico,” she said.

“It’s called Agave Tequilana Spirit. But it’s the exact same blue agave cactus that they use. We imported the cactus juice from Mexico and did all of the production on Aussie soil so we could get the best product possible. And just to let everyone know it’s authentically Australian, we’ve even put a Witchetty Grub in there. We thought about putting a little Akubra hat on him but my financial controller said absolutely not!”

Spicy Margaritas are arguably the most popular cocktail in the world right now, so Bunster is definitely onto something.

“Currently there’s only one other brand of spicy tequila on the market anywhere in the world – it’s American and includes a lot of other questionable flavours added, including sugar,” Bunster said.

“I think purists will love ours, it’s a genuine Silver Tequila. Spicy Margaritas are the top selling cocktail in most bars these days yet no one is commercially producing a pure tequila with just chilli added, until now. We are well placed to corner the entire Australian market for on premises and at home drinking for this cocktail. Everyone loves a spicy Marg but they don’t know how to get the spice into the drink, until now..

“The Witchetty grub idea was a joke we came up with after test driving too many of the early samples. We sent a tipsy text to our Production Manager. By the next day she texted back saying ‘I’ve secured the grubs – from Tasmania’. It’s hard to find Witchetty grubs in Australia for sale. But now we’ve got a hook up, we’ll be able to give a Witchetty Grub bottle to all our high level investors if they want one!”

So what does the grub taste like?

Bunster posted a video online of herself eating one of the Shit the Bed Tequila soaked grubs.

“I had to psych myself up to do that – it was chewy, a bit nutty, and kinda gross,” she said.

“But it definitely had a chilli kick and the tequila flavours shone through. My reaction video sums it up – it’s one of those things you have to try in your life at least once – and once only!”

Only people who invest $10,000 or more in Bunsters current equity raise will receive the rare ‘Shit the Bed Tequilana Agave Spirit’ with the added Witchetty Grub, but they can taste the whole range for a lot less and invest in the company at the same time. 

Other products unveiled by Bunsters include three fully Australian made flavoured tequila liqueurs: Peanut Butter, Fruit Zingle and Fireballs.

According to Bunster, she tried to make the Peanut Butter liqueur taste like a liquid Snickers Bar, but “somehow it’s even better”, while the Fruit Tingle liqueur “makes an amazing Fruit Tingle flavoured seltzer” and the Fire Balls has “a really fun burn on it and loads of that big red gum cinnamon taste”.

Currently the new products are only available to people who invest in Bunsters during its Birchal equity crowdfunding raise. Investing $1500 will get you a sample pack of the tequilas and you’ll also get to give Bunsters feedback on which one is the best to take to market. You’ll also be helping the company fund its US supermarket expansion plans.

“We’ve just been accepted in to seven different supermarket chains in the US and Canada to trial our sauces. We’ve passed the biggest hurdles of price and differentiation. There’s nothing else like our hot sauces on the shelf in America, we’re probably the only Australian brand in some of those supermarkets and our price point is perfect. We’re competitive. It’s set up for a home run for us. It’s a really exciting time for Bunsters.”

An investment of $2500 is required to receive a sample of all of the tequilas and a 500ml bottle of your choice, while a $5000 investment will get you all four 500ml bottles of tequila.

To invest head to birchal.com/company/bunsters