A legendary bartender in Canada’s great white north has passed.
Dick Stevenson, popularly known as Captain Dick, died at the age of 89 in Whitehouse on Thursday.
Stevenson rose to fame and beyond thanks to the creation of the Sourtour Cocktail at Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City.
The man well known for his Yukon gold prospector style image came up with the drink idea in 1973 after finding a frost-bitten human toe preserved in a jar in a cabin he purchased.
“When I walked into the bar last night, it was quite a sad feeling knowing that we lost somebody who was really important to the history of the place,” Stephen Lancaster, manager of the Dawson Hotel.
“We are quite sad about it and want to honour him somehow, and we’re trying to figure out some way of doing that.”
Lancaster said the saloon has records of more than 93,000 brave customers who are members of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club started by Stevenson.
“You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe,” says the club membership motto, which involves drinking a shot of whisky from a glass that also contains a pickled human big toe.
Lancaster said the Sourtoe Cocktail tradition will continue with Stevenson in the mix as his will asks his two big toes be preserved for future drinks.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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