The Sourtoe Cocktail: Yes, It's An Actual Human Toe In A Drink

Someone has stolen the mummified human toe included in the signature drink at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Canada. NPR's Melissa Block speaks with Toe Master, Terry Lee.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And now we head up across the Canadian border to the Yukon to hear the tale of the sour toe cocktail. The story goes that back in the 1920s, a rum runner in the Yukon preserved his amputated, frostbitten toe in a jar of alcohol in his cabin. Fifty years later, someone found that mummified digit. And, somehow, it became the essential ingredient of the signature drink at the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City.

Well, last Saturday, someone at the bar ordered the sour toe cocktail and made off with the toe. Police have launched an investigation. And joining us to explain is Terry Lee. He is the toe master at the saloon. Terry Lee, what exactly does a toe master do?

TERRY LEE: Well, a toe master administers the toe to clients. And, also, I take care of the paperwork. And I take care of the toe, make sure it's in good shape and well-preserved. I change the salt once a week on it. Any new toes come in - there's a procedure you have to do to get it what's called necrotic, which is completely mummified, before you can serve it.

BLOCK: You said when new toes come in.

BLOCK: You have more than one toe.

LEE: OK. Right now we don't have any big toes. A big toe was swallowed in 2013 on purpose. And then we were using the alternate toe, but that only lasted for about two and a half years and just literally fell apart. So now we're working on what we call the secondary toes next to the big toe. So we're looking for big toes. If anybody out there has an extra big toe, we would really like it.

BLOCK: And, apart from the toe, what exactly goes into a sour toe cocktail.

LEE: OK. According to Yukon Health, it has to be served in 80-proof alcohol. So that could be whiskey, rum, tequila. The traditional is Yukon Jack. Captain Dick Stevenson's favorite drink - he's the guy who started the toe in 1973.

BLOCK: This was all his idea, huh?

LEE: This was his idea.

BLOCK: And you actually get takers. This is a popular thing.

LEE: OK. Our number right now is - 71,468 people have done the two since 1973.

BLOCK: And to do the toe, meaning - besides having the drink, are there any rules involved?

LEE: Yes, we have warning signs that you can't swallow the toe. If you swallow the toe, it's a $2,500 fine.

BLOCK: I'm not seeing the appeal, I have to say. Try to talk me into it.

LEE: You have to be here. Dawson City is a very unique town anywhere in the world. And it's a frontier town. People in frontier towns do crazy things, especially if you stay the winter because your brain is probably half frozen.

BLOCK: What do you think would motivate somebody who orders the sour toe cocktail to actually go ahead and take a toe, Terry?

LEE: Well, there's all kinds of people in the world.

BLOCK: Yes, there are (laughter).

LEE: This guy was probably drunk. It was late at night.

BLOCK: I'm thinking you probably have to be pretty drunk to drink the sour toe cocktail in the first place.

LEE: Oh, no. There's people that come in here that don't drink period. And they do the toe.

BLOCK: They do the toe.

LEE: They do the toe.

BLOCK: So you're looking for a big toe.

BLOCK: Well, the call has gone out to our NPR listeners, who are either going to be repulsed or intrigued by what you're talking about here, Terry Lee.

BLOCK: That's toe master Terry Lee speaking with us from the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City, Yukon. Terry, good luck. Thanks so much.

LEE: Thank you very much.

BLOCK: And this just in. Apparently, the toe-napper was feeling guilty. Soon after our interview ended, the wayward toe arrived in the mail back at the saloon, complete with a letter of apology stating in part, I was way too drunk. The Mounties say no charges will be filed.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Yukon bar patron swallows famous sourtoe, pays fine, leaves town

An unidentified man took the local "sourtoe cocktail," which features a mummified human toe, and willfully swallowed it, according to witnesses

A Yukon hotel is short one severed human toe after a man swallowed it in a glass of whisky Saturday night.

“I’d never, ever expected something like that to happen,” said Terry Lee, still flabbergasted by what he saw at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City.

The local tradition of downing drinks containing a severed digit, gnarled and leathery like a stale pepperoni stick, hearkens back to the early 1970s, when a river barge pilot named Captain Dick Stevenson founded the “Sourtoe Cocktail Club.”

Lee, a local retiree who has worked as “toe captain” since June, said the latest toe was “mummified” with salt, and plunked into drinks for brave patrons about 30 to 40 times per night. More than 52,000 have joined the club, each receiving certificates and membership cards as relics of their courageous deed.

“It’s a dark brown colour, completely wrinkled. It’s a gross looking thing.”

Lee recommended trying it with Yukon Jack whisky.

There’s a $500 fine for swallowing the toe, which Lee said is meant as a “deterrent.” On Saturday, an unidentified man entered the bar and approached Lee’s station with a shot of whisky.

“This guy popped it in his mouth . . . takes $500 out of his pocket and slams it on the table and starts walking away.

“I said, ‘Where’s the toe?’ and he said, ‘I swallowed it’ . . . I was shocked.”

Earlier that night, the unidentified man described only as “Josh from New Orleans” was at another bar called The Pit, said Brodie McCrory, who works front desk at the Downtown Hotel.

“Josh” had decided to leave town, and was given his rent deposit back, said McCrory.

McCrory said he’s heard the man wavered between “ringing the bell” and buying drinks for everyone at The Pit, or rushing over to the Downtown Hotel to “swallow the toe.”

Lee, who was toe overseer at the hotel on Saturday night, said the man approached his station near closing time, and paid his $5 “toe tax” to have the amputated artifact dipped into his glass of booze.

Lee recited the standard line spoken to all those willing to feel the big toe bump against their mouths: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe.”

The man drank it fast, slurped the toe into his mouth, and quickly grabbed his pint of beer and chugged, Lee recalled.

Josh Martin — no relation to “Josh from New Orleans” — has also tasted the wrinkly flesh of the sourtoe. He became the 36,796th member of the “sourtoe club” while visiting Dawson City in June 2010.

“I still carry the official membership card in my wallet and when I returned home from the Yukon I replaced my university diploma on my wall with my Sourtoe Cocktail certificate,” Martin told the Star.

“The whisky was the only thing I could taste but the toe was like a leathery piece of jerky — with a toenail attached to it,” said Martin.

“I still shudder when I think about my tongue touching the raggedy, severed end.”

Now that their toe has been swallowed, Lee and his fellow captains are on the hunt for a new one. Most in the past have been donated through someone’s will, he said. One was also given to the bar after it was cut off by a lawn mower.

“We’re still looking for a toe — or toes,” said Lee.

And when they get one, he added, the deterrent fine will be jacked up to $2,500.

Explains the origins of “drink it fast or drink it slow but your lips must touch the toe”

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Bar patron swallows human toe

By Chuck Thompson, CNN

Updated 0630 GMT (1430 HKT) August 28, 2013

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Story highlights

Dawson City's Downtown Hotel serves a cocktail containing a real amputated human toe
Over the weekend a customer swallowed the toe as well as the drink -- deliberately
He was fined $500, but luckily the bar has a spare toe, so the tradition continues

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The Sourtoe Cocktail – A Yukon Tradition

You may have heard of it in passing. Whispers of a drink so strange it simply can’t be true. “You’re kidding! Is that even legal?!” – is the most common reaction. I’m talking about the Sourtoe Cocktail. Take one highball glass, fill it with a liquor of your choice and drop one severed human toe into the drink. The Jagerbomb’s got nothing on this. It’s sort of become a viral phenomenon – and people travel from all over the world to Dawson City, Yukon to join the Sourtoe Cocktail club.

Welcome to the Home of the Sourtoe Cocktail

Walking into the Downtown Hotel (Corner of Second St & Queen) – it’s clear you’re in the home of the toe. A giant wooden carving of a severed toe hangs above the bar, inscribed on the carved statue is a Capt. River Rat’s name, along with his year of birth, and an awaiting year of death. It would appear the Captain is still kicking it. I think to myself – “Good to know – surely he’s lost count of how many he’s done and if he’s still alive, how bad can it be!”

I’m greeted by a friendly young lady who has earned the title of “Sourtoe Captain” – her job is to encourage patrons of the bar to enjoy a Sourtoe Cocktail, and upon their agreement, bring them to the back of the bar and initiate them into the Sourtoe Cocktail Club. People gather around the back, waiting for the next person to join the club.

She tries luring me in with her cute eyes, I smile and politely decline “Just spectating for now thanks, probably tomorrow night!” – “But I won’t be here tomorrow night, you’ll have someone else…” she replies. After a bit of back and forth I eventually find myself in the chair at the back of the bar, starring at a severed, wrinkly, pickled human toe. Surprisingly the toe isn’t all that creepy as a whole, it’s just the nail. Dead people’s nails look ridiculously disgusting.

One Jack Daniels with a twist of Sourtoe

The bartender offers me a glass – “Yukon Jack?” she asks –”Jack Daniels please“, I reply. She pours me two fingers and brings back my highball to the table. I smell the oaky tones of JD and hope it’s enough to mask the taste of dead people. I then made a promise to myself, this is the closest I’ll ever get to cannibalism. She picks up the severed human toe, and drops it into my glass. It bounces gently on the bottom of the highball glass. I make eye contact with the toe, then The Captain passes me the traditional Sourtoe chapeau. I slap it on, give her the thumbs up just as she starts to speak the words that seal me in as a member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club.

I hear my cue – “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow – But your lips have got to touch the toe.” – I pick up the highball and bring it to my face, slowly pouring the warm JD down my throat, savouring the burn. The toe falls from the bottom of the glass and touches my lips and I decide to hold it there for a couple seconds. Make it official – and likely get a neat photo in the process. The crowd that’s gathered around me cheers as I release the glass from my lips and place it back upon the table. The toe sits upright in the bottom of the glass, as if it’s saluting me for my accomplishment.

A Sourtoe Cocktail with The Captain

As I recover from the burn of the drink, I shake my head in debelief and ask The Captain – “How many times have you done the Sourtoe Cocktail?” – she looks down shyly – “Only twice…” – I reply “You should do it again! Do a Sourtoe with us!“. After a few prodding words of encouragement from me, she says “What the hell! It’s been a while!“. Her drink is prepared and she asks me to read her in – the script is thankfully printed on my newly minted certificate.

I ask politely “Can we trade hats? Your’s look more official.” – she hesitates, assessing whether I’m worthy of wearing the Captain’s hat. She slowly removes it from her head and passes it to me. I slap on the awesome Captain hat with a big smile and belt out the initiation words. She slams a Sourtoe Cocktail like a champ – “Clearly not her first time”, I think to myself. The Captain sticks her hand out “Hat…” she says. I pass her the Captain’s hat and she slaps it back on, adjusting it slightly, laughing – “You don’t know how many people try to get me to do a Sourtoe Cocktail with them, you guys got lucky!”

Member No. 44,119 & Counting

As I get up out of my chair, thanking her for the experience, another patron sits down. The Sourtoe Cocktail practically sells itself. It’s an experience. One of those unique & quirky things you don’t want to leave Dawson City without doing. You’ll be happy to hear that once you pay to do the Sourtoe Cocktail once (Cost of $5 + drink cost), you can do them free for the rest of your life – you only have to pay the cost of the drink. Did I mention you get a Sourtoe Cocktail Club card? I keep mine beside my health card.

The History of the Sourtoe Cocktail

In the early 1970’s, this wild Yukon character (originally from New Brunswick) named Captain Dick Stevenson a.k.a Captain River Rat, found a preserved severed human toe in an old cabin near Dawson City and had the bright idea of turning it into a drink. People who knew Captain Dick guffawed, saying – “Nobody will do that, you’re crazy!” – while he may stretch the definition of sane, turns out everyone was wrong. The Sourtoe Cocktail became an immediate hit, and it wasn’t long before people were sucking them back like they were going out of style.

Originally the Sourtoe Cocktail was done in a pint of champagne, but it has since evolved into a highball of liquor, typically whiskey; however, they’ll drop the toe in just about anything – including Virgin Sourtoe Cocktails. They’ve gone through 4 human toes already, one was lost, one was stolen, and yes, one was even swallowed! While there’s been a few minor changes to the initiation, one rule remains the same. The drinker’s lips must touch the toe. As the initiation process so boldly proclaims “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow – But your lips have got to touch the toe.”

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2 Responses to “The Sourtoe Cocktail – A Yukon Tradition”

Omg. Wtfh. Wfdakfwaoi2;23

This is OUTRAGEOUS. I think thew NL Screech-In was bad.

So where did they get the other severed toes…?

Yup its completely legal. Toes have been sent from across Canada. But yup 🙂 Health Canada approves it. They have to sterilize it in 100 proof before it gets put in your drink.

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My name is Corbin Fraser. I'm a Blogger, Photographer, Web Developer, and Outdoor-Adventure / long-term Travel Enthusiast. I started I Backpack Canada in 2009 to help educate others interested in exploring Canada. I've been traveling across Canada on and off for the last 5 years. This very Canadian Travel Blog covers everything from budget travel, Canadian food, drinks, must-see Canadian destinations, travel tips, travel products, and my own experiences as I discover my home country. If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out! Or check out my FAQ post.

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THE SOURTOE COCKTAIL

Dawson City, Yukon Territory

I turn it in my hand, and all I can think is that someone, somewhere, really knows how to manufacture an incredibly realistic-looking human toe. The next night in Dick's home, over a wonderful home-cooked meal of marinated moose meat prepared by his wife Joanne for myself and two of my daughters Becky and Sarah, Dick shrugs and shakes his head as if to say, 'I've gone through this soooo many times. '

Somehow the fact that this has ended up in Dick Van Nostrands Downtown Hotel is not incongruous. The first time I met Dick he had on an apron, which every time he lifted it up, ostensibly to wipe his hands, a ten-inch red dildo rose from underneath. He was chasing one of his waitresses around the barroom with it. At dinner I told of my group of friends that fly off each year to various locations around the US to hear country music performers; he invites me to attend his next annual Substance Abuse Weekend. For a moment I suspect it is something akin to AA, until it becomes clear it is strictly a weekend during which Dick and his buddies Abuse Substances. Dick proves an exceptional storyteller, with the most precise use of profanity I have ever heard. And he explains the history of the Sourtoe Cocktail to me and my girls.

In 1973 a character known as Captain Dick Stevenson (AKA Capt. River Rat) bought a cabin outside of Dawson that was known to have the pickled remains of the owner's amputated toe inside. Over a long night of drinks in Dawson, Capt. Dick decided to concoct a most unusual drink where the pickled toe is dropped into a glass, and the shot is downed to their newly penned mantra: Do it fast or do it slow, but your lips must touch the toe. Not surprisingly, the Sourtoe Cocktail caught on in Dawson City, the Eldorado Hotel bar becoming the home of the Toe.

Since then Sourtoe infamy has spread across the far North, with a bizarre history. Toe #1 was swallowed by a local placer miner named Garry Younger when he tried to do his thirteenth toe shot in a row. Toe #2 was somehow lost during the restoration of the Eldorado Hotel. Toe #3 was stolen by a group of soldiers who took it back with them to London, Ontario. When word got out that the soldiers were bragging of their heist, the toe was returned, but not before Capt. Dick had acquired another toe. Toe #4 was swallowed intentionally by a baseball player from Inuvik, who was fooled into thinking he Had to swallow it in order to receive his Sourtoe Certificate.

When Capt. Dick retired from the Toe in the early nineties, over 10,000 people had 'done the toe,' including Audrey McLaughlin, Yukon MP, and writers Dick North and Pierre Burton (three time member!). Capt. Dick has claimed that Canadian Premier Jean Chretian once had the opportunity while he was Minister of Northern affairs, but had 'wimped out.'

"I lease the toe from Stevenson, Dick told me. He's living in Whitehorse now, I lease it for $5000 Canadian a year. It's great business, you should see the bar, lined with people doing the toe, or watching. It's good business. I might even go on the David Letterman show. It won't be hard, I'll just practice up a bit, and do the toe, of course."

"There's got to be something illegal about this," I said.

"There's nothing illegal about it, except you can't mail human body parts over international boundaries." Dick shrugs. "But I don't do it, they're sent to me!"

Two evenings later my daughters and I are back from a harrowing escape from the newly fallen snow on the Dempster Highway. Relaxing in the Downtown Hotels barroom, bartender Mike Kucway smirks as I sit with one Pat Roach of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, up from Whitehorse on business. Our discussion turns to The Toe, and a gentleman named Bruce Cley sitting next to me overhears and offers, "I once did the Toe in the 80's, but won't do it ever again."

"Because it's kind of disgusting."

The best story about it, Mike says, is one night Capt. River Rat was doing the Toe for some guy who popped out his glass eye, and dropped it in the Captains drink. So one guy did the Toe, while the Captain did the eye!

And you know how these evenings go. With the passage of a bit more time – quite a bit more time – sitting at Dick Van Nostrand's bar, the decision is made.

Bartender Mike nods, goes into the back room and returns with a weathered wooden box about twelve inches long by seven wide, and six deep. He opens the box on the bar before us, and removes a white sea Captain's hat, a worn leather log book, and two glass jars full of salt, containing several human toes. Mike places the hat on his head.

"Because I'm the Captain here."

He places the containers of salt and toes before us. I pick out the one I had handled, a big toe, the most prominent toe.

Comrade Pat concurs, and Mike pours two shots and dumps the toe into the one in front of me. Sarah blurts, Dont you DARE do it, Dad! If you do, Im telling Mom never to kiss you on the lips again! and flees in horror, while Becky remains in a state of morbid fascination, ready to record the moment on film. Mike reminds us, "Do it fast or do it slow, but the lips must touch the toe." I look at the shot of Jack Daniels with a human toe in it.

Well, what the hell.

I lift the shot glass, tip it up and down the JD, and feel the toe touch my lips. Pat gets the toe into his glass and downs his shot, our fellow patrons cheers serenading the brave new heroes. We enter our names in the Sourtoe log book (I am number 12,174), and Mike writes our names onto our yellow certificates and hands them to us. Among other telling truths the certificate states, "(your name here) drank an authentic Sourtoe Cocktail, thereby following in the wayward – even staggering – footsteps of Capt. River Rat, and has proven to be a person capable of almost anything. "

I shake my head at the scene.

"Pretty crazy, eh?" I say, and MIke looks at me, having caught on my utterance of our northern neighbors common expression, 'eh'. He stands before me in his Capt. River Rat hat, a jar of salted human toes in each of his hands.

"Hey," he says, "are you making fun of Canadians?"

Would You Drink This Mummified-Toe Cocktail?

The notorious "Sourtoe Cocktail" — a shot of alcohol containing a dehydrated human toe — is a bizarre tradition at the Downtown Hotel's Sourdough Saloon, in Dawson City, Yukon Territory. The cocktail craze kicked off in 1973, after riverboat Capt. Dick Stevenson found a preserved toe in an abandoned Yukon cabin; the toe was thought to belong to a 1920s-era bootlegger named Louie Linken, the Sourtoe Cocktail Club website says.

According to local legend, Linken's brother amputated the toe with an ax — the digit had frozen while the pair were on the lam from the law — and preserved it in alcohol while they were hiding out in the cabin. Stevenson established an exclusive drinking club at the Sourdough Saloon based around the toe, with one qualification for admission: Would-be members had to quaff a drink with the toe in it.

Once an intrepid patron has committed to tossing back a drink garnished with a preserved toe, the alcohol choice almost seems irrelevant. Obligingly, the bar serves up the Sourtoe Cocktail with your tipple of choice, but many opt to drink their toe doused in a shot of Yukon Jack — an 80-proof liquor made from Canadian whisky and honey, according to the Sourdough Saloon website. A saloon-designated "toe captain" drops a mummified human toe in the brimming shot glass, and the Sourtoe Cocktail is ready. But the drinker must follow a key Sourdough Saloon rule: "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe." [The 10 Weirdest Ways We Deal with the Dead]

Whether the original toe truly belonged to a notorious Prohibition-era rumrunner is anyone's guess. Nonetheless, the original toe was retired long ago — but the bar has always managed to find replacement toes, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) reported in 2013.

To date, 71,468 people have downed the drink and tasted the toe, toe captain Terry Lee recently told NPR. Lee maintains the mummified toe at the bar, where it is kept stored in salt that he changes once a week, NPR reported.

Currently, the toe is ceremoniously offered to prospective customers between the hours of 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, a Downtown Hotel representative told Live Science. After downing the shot, the drinker receives an official certificate from toe captain Lee. A photo of the document shared on Instagram on June 13 by user @culinarystudio stated that the drinker had proved "to be a person capable of almost anything," as witnessed by "Capt. River Rat."

A post shared by The Culinary Studio (@culinarystudio) on Jun 13, 2017 at 3:06pm PDT

The certificate is generally enough of a souvenir for most of the cocktail's imbibers. But some Sourtoe sippers want a more substantial memento and thus take matters — and the toe — into their own hands.

Here today, gone toe-morrow

In 2013, a patron deliberately swallowed the toe — the first such incident in the cocktail's history — paying the bar's fine of $500 and prompting the staff to raise the toe-swallowing penalty to $2,500, the CBC reported.

Unfortunately, that deprived the bar of its last big toe, leaving only "what we call the secondary toes next to the big toe," Lee told NPR.

More recently, on June 17, the saloon again found itself one toe short, after a late-night customer ran off with the grisly severed digit, the Toronto Sun reported. Luckily, the bar had "other toes to tide us over," a Downtown Hotel representative said in a Facebook post. But that didn't stop them from putting out a call on social media for "toenations," offering a free Yukon vacation to one lucky winner willing to post a photo of their toes under #MakeAToenation, for consideration as a replacement, according to the contest website.

A post shared by Travel Yukon (@travelyukon) on Jun 22, 2017 at 3:05pm PDT

Meanwhile, the Yukon Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were hot on the alleged suspect's trail. The toe-napper called the RCMP on June 20 to say that he had mailed the toe back to the hotel, RCMP representatives said in a statement. On June 22, the toe arrived at the bar, along with a handwritten apology that read, "I'm deeply sorry. I was way to [sic] drunk and lost my mind celebrating a special Yukon date," and was signed "Sincerely, A Drunken Fool," the Yukon News reported.

"At the time that the package was opened, the toe was believed to be in good condition," according to the RCMP. [Photos of the Best Preserved Bog People]

In the spirit of "toenation," the contest for a replacement toe went ahead anyway, and on July 10, Travel Yukon chose one winner from over 300 entries that made the cut, with a representative writing on Instagram, "Your toe now belongs to us. Dust that thing off and get it ready to be marinated in our famous Sourtoe Cocktail."

The winner, Kelly Green — a kayak instructor from British Columbia — will receive a weeklong vacation across the Yukon, during which she'll visit the Sourdough Saloon to sign a contract making her "toenation" official, the Vancouver Sun reported.

And the trip won't cost her an arm and a leg — just her big toe, which she will donate posthumously at some undisclosed point in the future, Green told the Vancouver Sun.

"I won't need it anymore, and my grandkids are going to be able to tell a really good story," Green said.

Editor's Recommendations

Mindy Weisberger is a senior writer for Live Science covering general science topics, especially those relating to brains, bodies, and behaviors in humans and other animals — living and extinct. Mindy studied filmmaking at Columbia University; her videos about dinosaurs, biodiversity, human origins, evolution, and astrophysics appear in the American Museum of Natural History, on YouTube, and in museums and science centers worldwide. Follow Mindy on Twitter .

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Mystery's afoot as hotel's famous cocktail garnish, a toe, stolen

A mummified toe used in the "Sourtoe Cocktail" served at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon.

DAWSON CITY, Yukon -- The owners of a Canadian hotel known for its unusual cocktail, the aptly-named Sourtoe, say the drink's trademark garnish -- a severed and dehydrated human toe -- has been stolen.

The drink has long drawn tourists to the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, a tiny town along the Yukon River, about 60 miles east of Alaska. Inside the hotel's saloon, the daring down a shot of whiskey with the mummified toe dropped in, making sure the toe makes contact with their lips.

That is until Saturday night, when a man who hotel owners say was visiting from Quebec allegedly made off with the digit.

We would toe-tally appreciate your help!

Police in Dawson City have been notified and the hotel is offering a reward for information leading to the toe's recovery.

The hotel promises a $2,500 fine for anyone who steals or swallows the toe. The fine "had been $500 until August 2013, when a patron gulped back the entire cocktail -- toe and all -- and slapped $500 on the table," the CBC reports.

Other toes have gone missing in the decades since the Sourtoe cocktail was invented, including other instances in which the toes were swallowed.

"Got frostbite?" An ad on the hotel's website reads, before explaining that the owners are always seeking volunteers to donate their severed toes.

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The Sourtoe Cocktail

The Sourtoe Cocktail captures the wild creative spirit of the frozen north, and is a story that will never fail you at cocktail parties. The Downtown Bar in Dawson City serves a tumbler of your liquor choice with a real severed human toe. There is a ceremony, you join the club, and get a card. Over 65,000 people have it. Why, you make ask? Because it’s there.

Length of Trip : 1 hour

Cost : It costs $5 to join the club, plus the cost of the liquor you’re consuming in your cocktail. Together with your shot of Yukon Jack, it costs about $12.

Best time to go : You can join the Sour Toe Cocktail Club year-round.

Wheelchair friendly : Yes

Family friendly : No

Where to eat : You can chase your cocktail with pub fare in the saloon of the Downtown Hotel, or head upstairs to the Jack London Dining Room, open daily from 6am to 10pm (11pm on weekends). There is also a patio open in the summer.

Where to Stay : The Downtown Hotel has 34 rooms in the main building, and 25 rooms in the Annex (which has a courtyard and Jacuzzi). There is a shuttle service to and from the airport 13 miles from town. Each room has two double beds and en-suite bathroom. There are also four deluxe rooms and a handicap room with special bathroom facilities.

Getting There : The Downtown Hotel is located in the heart of Dawson City, which despite its name, is small and easy to navigate. It is located one block from the Yukon River.

Note from Robin : You can choose to drink your cocktail with any spirit that’s 40% alcohol, such as vodka, gin or whiskey. Most people choose the local Yukon Jack. For some years the club has been using its 8th toe, donated by someone who lost it in a lawn mower accident. Click here to read about the history of the toes that came before it.

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That Time I Drank Whiskey with a Human Toe (Video)

People do the craziest things. Just look at reality television.

But who am I to judge? I joined the ranks of over 74,000 other nut jobs who’ve downed the famous Sourtoe Cocktail in Dawson City. (If you haven’t heard, that’s a whiskey shot garnished with a desiccated human toe.)

What can I say? I’m a sheep.

A Little History

The origin of the Sourtoe can be traced to the 1940’s. Legend has it that Otto and Louie Linken, two Yukon rum-runners outside of Dawson City, had been trapped in a blizzard. Louie, contracted frostbite and as any loving brother would, Otto chopped off the offending toe with an axe. Preserving it for posterity, they plopped it in a jar of alcohol.

Fast forward to 1972, Dawsonite Captain Dick Stevenson, finds the pickled toe and has a light-bulb moment. A stroke of twisted genius. Why not put the toe in a glass of champagne and charge people to drink it? (I know. Utterly insane.) The hook: to complete the challenge, the toe must touch their lips. He went to a friend’s bar (today it’s at the Sourdough Saloon in the Downtown Hotel) and together they agreed to see who would bite (figuratively speaking). The first year, eight brave souls manned up and the World Famous SourToe cocktail was born. Years later, on a warm Saturday night in July, I became the 73,478th wackadoodle to join the club.

Me and The SourToe Cocktail

I’d read about the Sourtoe while researching my trip. From all the coverage online, which far outdid any other mentions of Dawson, it seemed to be the City’s calling card, which in retrospect is a shame considering there’s so much more this remote town offers.

I told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I thought it was a bizarre marketing ploy reminiscent of a bad fraternity stunt. But once there, when my travel companions said they were taking the challenge, I faced two choices: be the biggest party pooper ever or join in.

I ordered a shot of Yukon Gold and got in line.

The Big Moment

It was nearing 11pm and my turn was just a few cocktails away. Ahead of me were my two friends and a couple of strangers lined up in front of a table on the bar’s mezzanine.

My eyes roamed over the signs tacked on the red-flocked wallpaper behind it: “73,425 served.” “Man the Feck up! It’s the Sourtoe Cocktail!” Guests were warned not to swallow the toe or face a $2500 fine. (If you don’t believe someone would do ever do that, someone did. On purpose. Again, people do crazy things.)

Terry Lee, Dawson’s longtime Toe Master, a slight, wrinkled, white-haired old man with a scraggly beard, a sea captains hat, and glasses, looked as cinematic as one could hope for the occasion. Taking his responsibilities very seriously, he asked each person their name, dutifully writing it down on a certificate, verification of the person’s entry into the SourToe club—assuming the effort was successful.

I sat down whiskey in hand. Between us sat the digit, resting on a large pile of salt. Shriveled and brown (a second toe perhaps?) it looked like a skinny date. That’s not so bad, I thought. I’d imagined a flesh-colored big toe. That would have freaked me out.

The Toe Master looked at me with dead seriousness, his piercing eyes locked with mine.

“Are you ready, Susan?”

“I am!” I countered.

He picked up the toe. Circling it in front of my eyes and said, “You can drink it fast. You can drink it slow. But your lips must touch this gnarly toe!”

Oh heck.. here’s the video…

Surprisingly, I had fun. Would I have done it on my own? Hell no. But with friends capping a night out it was a worthwhile endeavor. The kind of experience travel is all about. And not taking myself so seriously, well, that was good too.

How you can take the Sourtoe challenge

During the summer, you can take the Sourtoe challenge every night between 9pm and 11pm at the Sourdough Saloon at the corner of Second and Queen in the Downtown Hotel.

The cost is $5.00 Canadian plus whatever drink you choose to go with it. Most order whiskey. I can vouch for Yukon Gold (also only $5.00 Canadian). It’s very smooth.

In case you’re interested

24 replies »

That toe thing sounded disgusting. So how was it?

Well, it really wasn’t bad. The toe was shriveled and looked like a fig. It didn’t alter the taste of the whiskey and for the 2 seconds it touched my lips.. well, not a big deal. LOL

I have a friend at work who professed to drinking the sourtoe cocktail as well. Absolutely disgusting… Love it.

Ha! I love that you love it. And yes, totally disgusting. Isn’t it crazy that so many people go out of their way to do it?

Been to Dawson City years ago, never heard of the SourToe. I will check it out if I ever head that way again. And, you are right – there is more to Dawson than a cocktail! Thanks for sharing!

Glad you liked it. Thanks a million!

Cane believe you paid extra for the privilege! Lol. Better you than me.

Yep! Haha.. $5 Canadian.. Not a bad price actually. 😉

You are awesome! I love that you just went for it. I just showed my kids the video and now they want us all to do the sourtoe challenge. I guess, therefore, if I ever find myself in Dawson City, it will have to happen. It’s hilarious that they have had different toes over the years and had a back-up toe ready when that (strange!) man decided to deliberately swallow one. I am sure there is a story to be told in just the accumulation of toes.

LOL.. I think your kids need to wait awhile. LOL.. It’s such a crazy rite of passage. And you’ll DEFINITELY need to do it if you end up there. 🙂

Oh yes. That experience is definitely some years off for many reasons but I do like to encourage them to have a travel bucket list that includes big ticket items and more characterful, “roadside” type experiences.

This would definitely fall into the latter category. haha

I wouldn’t have done it basically because my stomach doesn’t allow me to drink anymore. BUT a toe today, a finger tomorrow. 😂😉😳

Well, that would definitely be a deterrent. No finger’s yet but there is a drink with dog-sled balls in it. That’s definitely where I draw the line.

I have no idea WHAT to think except you go girl! I am not sure if I would be brave enough to do this, but I applaud your dare devil self and I definitely enjoyed reading this! <3

Thank you, Karen! It was an experience. Glad you enjoyed it. 😁

I think I threw up in my mouth a little… As I was reading this, the adventurer in me kept saying you would totally do this! I was enthralled. And then I watched the video… I’m not woman enough. Kiddos to you for going the distance and thank you for letting me live vicariously through your experience, because whether I have the chance to visit or not- this will never be a reality for me.

Ha!! I thought it would be far more gross than it was, surprisingly. LOL.. But glad I could take one for the team. 🙂

So whose toe is it if the original was swallowed? Please don’t tell me they waited for nature to take it’s course and got the original back…

Haha – they’ve had multiple toes over the years. People donate them in their wills if you can believe it. 🙂

Life is short, live it.

Love is rare, grab it.

Anger is bad , dump it

Fear is awful , face it.

Truth is good, tell it .

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Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal

The Sourtoe Cocktail is practically a rite of passage for visitors to Dawson City, Yukon. It's a simple drink (a shot of whiskey, usually Yukon Jack) with an unusual accompaniment: a mummified human toe.

How did the Sourtoe cocktail come to be? It all started during probition, with a nasty case of frostbite.

In the 1920s, the rum-running Linken brothers — Louie and Otto — got caught in a blizzard. Louie put his foot through a patch of ice and soaked his foot. When the brothers got back to their cabin, Louie's right foot was frozen solid.

To prevent gangrene, Otto used his axe to chop off Louie's toe. He placed the toe in a jar of alcohol to commemorate the event.

In 1973, legend has it that Captain Dick Stevenson found the jar (and the toe) in a remote cabin.

He came up with the idea of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club — an exclusive club, with one membership requirement.

In order to gain admittance to the club, potential members must drink the legendary sourtoe coctail. There's just one rule: "You can drink it fast. You can drink it slow. But your lips must touch that gnarly toe."

In 2013, one man swallowed the toe. On purpose. He was run out of town. But he came back, seeking forgiveness from the people of Dawson City. Watch Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal.

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Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal

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среда, 14 февраля 2018 г.

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The Sourtoe Cocktail: Yes, It's An Actual Human Toe In A Drink