You need an adventurous spirit and a pretty strong stomach to attempt the “Sourtoe Cocktail” that’s served up at the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City, Canada’s Downtown Hotel. It’s a simple recipe whereby patrons choose a minimum of one ounce of alcohol of their own choosing, but what makes the beverage stand out is its vital ingredient: a preserved human toe. You heard it right. An honest-to-goodness human toe.
The existence of such a thing begs the question: whose idea was this? Well, the lore all goes back to 1973 when a group of friends clearing out an abandoned cabin stumbled across a perfectly preserved toe which, legend has it, belonged to rum runner Louie Linken before he lost the appendage to frostbite in the 1920s while attempting to smuggle booze across the border. For reasons that are hard to fathom, the pals decided it would be the perfect cocktail ingredient.
If you’re feeling daring and decide to venture forth and go for the toe, you must adhere to the rules. To get credit for consuming the drink properly and thereby gaining membership to the exclusive club of 10,000 other brave souls and counting, you MUST allow the severed toe to touch your lips… but don’t swallow it! Not only will you have technically devolved into cannibalism, you’ll also owe the Sourdough Saloon a $500 fine (as a few dozen unfortunate imbibers have discovered). Luckily, since the original toe was consumed, several more have been kindly ‘donated’ (from where, we don’t even want to know) and the “Sourdoe Cocktail” challenge remains today.
Next time you find yourself in Dawson City, Canada, check out the Sourdough Saloon in the city’s Downtown Hotel, located at 1026 Second Avenue.
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Photo Credit: Annette Shaff / Shutterstock.com