Inventor of 'sourtoe cocktail' dies and donates all 10 toes to hotel bar

More than 90,000 people have tried the drink - but patrons face a $500 fine if they accidentally swallow the toe

A mummified amputated toe bobs in a shot of whisky (Youtube: GRRRLTRAVELER | Christine Kaaloa)

The inventor of the notorious sourtoe cocktail - a shot of whisky in which an amputated, mummified human toe bobs - has died, donating all ten of his toes to the bar at which the drink became famous.

Dick Stevenson - known as Captain Dick - came up for the idea for the libation in 1973 after buying an old cabin and finding that the previous owners had left behind a jar containing a preserved toe.

He decided to garnish a beer glass filled with champagne with it, but later changed it to a shot of hard liquor after an elderly patron said she didn’t mind the toe, but couldn’t stomach so much champagne.

The drink has since been served to around 93,000 customers at the Downtown Hotel bar in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, with one rule: You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe.

Dixie Stevenson said her father, who ran boat tours on the Yukon river until his retirement, was a “publicity hound” and the drink “brought him the most fame of anything he’s ever done”.

On his donation of his toes to the bar, she said: “He just said he was going to be more famous after he’s dead.”

Several adventurers have also donated their toes to the bar over the years for use in the cocktails. They’re stored packed in salt when they’re not being used.

Any patron who swallows a toe, either deliberately or accidentally, is fined $500. It’s something that’s happened twice before.

In addition to Captain Dick’s toes, the Dawson Hotel will be displaying his ashes by the bar, in a special toe-shaped urn that he commissioned before his death.