Canadians drink...toes??

Cafe Society
1

I’m only now hearing of a drink called the Sourtoe cocktail, served at a hotel in the Yukon. A mummified human toe is added to a shot of whiskey as a garnish. The hotel had two toes they rotated through drinks, but a British ultra runner has generously donated three of his toes that were amputated after getting severe frostbite in a recent race.* So if you were sad that you and two friends couldn’t raise a toast of toes together, fear not, more toes are on the way.

I’m not sure what to think of Canadians now.

  • The above link does not have any pictures of actual toes. The link below does, and they are disgusting, so I’m spoilering it.

Mummified and frostbitten toes

2

The idea goes back a ways.

The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail by Robert Service.

3

This is a very specific thing to that weird hotel in Yukon.

We don’t roam the streets with toes in our travel mugs (generally). The recent article had a LOT of very regional items and tried to expand them to the rest of Canada. That is hardly fair.

4

Some winters, I keep my toes in my pockets.

5

This seems like exactly the kind of thing some toe-drinking Canadian would say to lure me into a false sense of security.

6

I know that my dad kissed a cod when he was Screeched in when we moved to Newfoundland.

7

Having been to a few bars while in the Yukon, I can assure you it’s NOT just one bar.

Also, don’t ring the bell. They’ll try and convince you, don’t do it.

8

That is truly, almost unfathomably disgusting. Not only the toe itself, but the thought that it’s been marinating in the backwash of every drinker before you. Hard pass.

9

I like feets.

10

It’s not just The Yukon. I first heard of this at a bar in Virginia City, Nevada. It appears to be mining and prospecting related.

11

It’s most likely tourists ain’t it?

12

NEVER RING THE BELL!! Never.

The Yukon is a weird place. The Northern Lights have seen strange sights. I have spent time in the far north and it is a very peculiar place. Dis-incorporated toes in shots of hooch are be least of any concern.

13

My theory is that some Canadian heard an American freaking out about the worm in a tequila bottle and said, “We can’t let those Mexicans outdo us in freaking out Americans! Let’s come up with something even worse!” I don’t even want to know what the next step in this escalation is.

14

I ate a cod when in Newfoundland. Several, actually. They were delicious. Screech, not so much.

15

I believe it’s a combination of people who drink hard, (through a long, long cold winter.)
And also, occasionally loose a toe to frostbite.

I’m guessing the alcohol figures in both the acquisition of frost bitten toes AND the idea it ought to be a cocktail ingredient!

16

^lose a toe

Yeah, I know.

17

What happens when the bell is rung?

18

They get a new toe. >_>

19

If you ring the bell, you buy a round for the whole bar.

20

You make it sound like they don’t rinse it off before they drop it in the glass!