# Canadians drink...toes?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688 "2019-06-18T15:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/1 "2019-06-18T15:55:30Z")
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](https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a28063583/british-ultra-runner-donates-three-frostbitten-toes/) 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](https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/ywyea7/this-man-sacrificed-his-toes-so-you-could-do-a-gross-shot-of-whisky) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/2 "2019-06-18T16:33:36Z")
The idea goes back a ways. [The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail](http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/organisms/inverts/Close_ups/terrestrial/Ice_Ballad.htm) by Robert Service. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/3 "2019-06-18T18:14:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/4 "2019-06-18T19:10:50Z")
Some winters, I keep my toes in my pockets. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/5 "2019-06-18T19:30:21Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > 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. This seems like exactly the kind of thing some toe-drinking Canadian would say to lure me into a false sense of security. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/6 "2019-06-18T19:43:07Z")
I know that my dad kissed a cod when he was Screeched in when we moved to Newfoundland. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/7 "2019-06-18T20:20:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/8 "2019-06-18T21:43:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/9 "2019-06-18T21:54:07Z")
I like feets. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/10 "2019-06-18T22:04:33Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/11 "2019-06-18T23:08:11Z")
It’s most likely tourists ain’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/12 "2019-06-18T23:31:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > 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. **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. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/13 "2019-06-18T23:31:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/14 "2019-06-19T00:49:59Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > I know that my dad kissed a cod when he was Screeched in when we moved to Newfoundland. I _ate_ a cod when in Newfoundland. Several, actually. They were delicious. Screech, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/15 "2019-06-19T01:01:28Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/16 "2019-06-19T01:46:39Z")
^lose a toe Yeah, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/17 "2019-06-19T02:14:37Z")
What happens when the bell is rung? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/18 "2019-06-19T02:38:08Z")
They get a new toe. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/19 "2019-06-19T04:04:00Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > What happens when the bell is rung? If you ring the bell, you buy a round for the whole bar. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688/20 "2019-06-19T04:06:14Z")
You make it sound like they don’t rinse it off before they drop it in the glass! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-drink-toes/835688.md?page=2)