Driving pell-mell through town the other day, I stopped the radio spin to listen to an NPR story about the SourToe Cocktail. I’m not advocating The Bar at Downtown Repalone begin serving this particular concoction – we don’t have the proper facilities for storing severed toes. But it did get me wondering about all the stomach-churning delicacies brewers and distillers put in their bottled offerings. Thus, the second installment of Liquor for Lightweights was conjured.
A quick search turned up plenty of oddities: sake bottles (called Ika Tokkuri in Japanese) made from dried cuttlefish skins, which, when sake is added, infuse the sake with a mild squid flavor; vodkas with scorpion; whiskeys with cobras, king snakes, centipedes, seahorses, lizards and spiders; wines made from caterpillars or containing fauna that can be inserted into the bottle, like a Mekong River eel; the Okinawa Habu Snake sake; and of course plenty of tequila with the requisite worm.
I’m guessing that most of us will assume these specialty bottles are meant as novelty items, perhaps never to be consumed, simply put on view. However, many of the critter-infused spirits were originally distilled for medicinal purposes. So, next time you find yourself throwing back that bottle of scorpion vodka, check your libido, the scorpion is supposed to be an aphrodisiac for men. As for me, I’ll stick to chocolate – candies, baked goods and of course, liqueurs.
Here's a YouTube look at Cap't Dick's SourToe Cocktail Club
A phenomenal resort destination! To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Downtown Repalone is YOUR bar! "All I Wanted Was a Sink!"