Categories: Food & Drink

You can get a cocktail garnished with a pickled human toe in this Canadian town

Let us just preface this with an apology, but don’t get it twisted. We’re not sorry that we’re telling you about this, we’re sorry that you didn’t know about it earlier. Ladies, gents, and friends, today we’re taking a little trip to the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon – an old-timey spot, world-famous for its Sourtoe Cocktail – garnished with a real human, mummified toe. Seriously, just think of all the conversations you could have gotten out of pre-COVID by bringing this up!

Now, we can only imagine how many of you think that this is total BS, but let us assure you. This is a very, very real thing.

The Sourtoe Cocktail, which is simply a shot of whisky and a pickled human toe in a single glass, was invented in 1973 by Dick Stevenson.

Stevenson, a bartender at The Downtown Hotel, was a colourful character with, what we can only assume was a dark sense of humour.

After finding a frostbitten toe in a cabin that he had purchased, the creative mixologist had the wonderfully awful idea to pickle and serve it to customers. To the surprise of many, drink it, they did. In fact, since the 70s, thousands have been inducted into the ‘unique’ society known as the Sourtoe Cocktail Club.

We guess that now the only question is toe be, or not toe be a member yourselves. Would you try the cocktail, or are you lack-toes intolerant? Let us know, and be toe-tally honest! We won’t judge.