Unusual Cocktails from Around the World

I’ve never been a foodie, so whenever I want to feel immersed in the flavors of wherever I’m visiting, I ask for a drink menu. Nothing settles you into the New Orleans French Quarter like a Sazerac, or screams “I’m in Spain right now!” like sipping sangria at a café.

But if you REALLY want a taste of local flavor, sometimes you’ve got to stray a little further from the hotel happy hour menu. 

Okay… maybe a lot further.

Turns out there are a seemingly infinite number of ways to get wasted, and humanity is still discovering new ones every day. From niche traditions to modern inventions, here are some of the most unique, most hyperlocal, and (in some cases) most horrifying ways to unwind with a drink! 

Karsk (Norway)

We’re starting off simple with a rural favorite from the Trøndelag region of Norway. Dating back to the early 1800s, this two-ingredient beverage is defined more by the process than the finished product.

To make karsk, you’ll need coffee (this is Scandinavia we’re talking about, remember?), some moonshine (or vodka, but a little law-breaking is more traditional), and a single coin. Drop the coin in the cup, then pour coffee over it until you can no longer see the coin through the liquid. Then dilute the coffee with enough moonshine to make the coin visible again. Ta-da, you’ve just made karsk!

If you’ve stopped to consider the relative opacities of coffee versus grain alcohol, you’ve probably realized how lethal this drink can be. One blog refers to karsk as “a self-deceiving way of accidentally getting hammered,” because even after you’ve realized just how strong you’ve made the drink, you still can’t waste it, can you?

Most modern variations play fast and loose with the coin rule, making the coffee-liquor ratio a little less diabolical. Some even go so far as to add sugar. Much more palatable, but if you’re worried about flavor, you might not survive the end of this list.

Seaweed Smoothie (Belize)

Of all the drinks on this list, this one might go down the easiest. Who doesn’t love a thick, creamy smoothie?

Because it’s so high in the thickening agent carrageenan, seaweed is kind of the perfect ingredient for an extra-creamy smoothie. And despite what you might expect from an ocean vegetable, it doesn’t turn them salty! Descriptions often compare the sweet, nutty flavor to eggnog, and some shops even serve flavored varieties like Oreo and orange creamsicle. The boozy varieties are usually made with rum, sort of like a blended seaweed daiquiri. 

This smoothie owes its invention to the burgeoning seaweed industry in Placencia, a laid-back Belizean beach town. Local farmers raise several different varieties eighteen miles off the coast and sell to eateries all over the area, so check those café menus if you find yourself in coastal Belize and want to give it a try. 

Seaweed consumption is also said to have quite a few benefits, so while you’re pounding back rum-soaked smoothies on a Caribbean beach, you can tell yourself it’s all in the name of good health.

Hormigas Culonas (Colombia)

This one’s more of an unusual ingredient than a specific drink, but it’s been popping up around the Colombian cocktail scene. While America’s hipster bartenders reach for breakfast cereal or exotic syrups, some in Colombia are reaching for hormigas culonas.

Translating to “fat-bottomed ants,” these insects are a regional delicacy from the Santander area. They’ve been enjoyed as a snack food for centuries by the indigenous Guane people, and are found today at street markets in cities like Bucaramanga. They’re frequently compared to peanuts or popcorn, with foreigners often expressing surprise at how good they taste.

To try them in a cocktail, head to Bar Carmen in Medellín. There you can order the B.C.E., a mezcal-based drink that comes garnished with ants. TODAY also has a recipe for an insect mojito if you’d rather enjoy the crunchy critters at home. To go beyond the shaker, pick up a bottle of Colombian ant wine.

And before you dare to get grossed out by any of this, remember that every hot toddy has “bee vomit” on its ingredient list.

Jellyfish Martini (Singapore)

On a narrow street in the heart of Singapore, you’ll find FURA — an award-winning bar where seemingly no ingredient is off-limits. House cocktails include components like mealworm, corn dough, and “coffee” (written in quotation marks). One involves a “cultured Japanese quail” whose exact involvement in the drink isn’t stated on the menu.

But the bar’s signature cocktail (and the one that got my attention) is, of course, the jellyfish martini. 

The drink was inspired by an overabundance of invasive jellies. Sasha Wijidessa, FURA’s bartender and co-owner, figured that their ballooning population could be kept in check if they started popping up on menus. She developed a gin made with the pests, and thus the jellyfish martini was born.

Despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to find a detailed description of what the martini actually tastes like, but the other ingredients suggest a savory, herbal cocktail with an oceanic twist. Seeing as FURA was just crowned the best international restaurant bar in the world by the Spirited Awards, I can’t imagine it’s anything but impressive.

Sourtoe Cocktail (Canada)

Sigh… I guess I have to tell you about the Sourtoe now. 

No list of odd local cocktails is complete without this atrocity from the Yukon, available only at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City.

While Canada is no stranger to unusual ingredients (their most iconic national drink involves clam juice), nothing quite prepares you for the Sourtoe. The recipe couldn’t be simpler: Pour yourself a shot of Yukon Jack whiskey, then drop in a mummified human toe.

Yes, an actual severed human toe, one that was once a part of a real living human body. In order to truly complete the drink, the rules state that your lips have to make contact with its dehydrated flesh. 

^{“Sourtoe Cocktail Preparation - Downtown Hotel, Dawson City, Yukon Territory” by TravelingOtter, CC BY-SA 2.0}

Just don’t swallow it — that’ll run you a $2,500 fine. It’s not like the bartenders can run down to the Real Canadian Superstore to pick up a replacement. The toes have to be donated, which makes them remarkably difficult to procure on demand. When a patron ate a toe on purpose in 2013, he was (according to local hearsay) run out of town by Hell’s Angels for the crime. 

The bar’s “Toe Captain,” Terry Lee, is reportedly working on a new cocktail he calls “The Foot.” I’ll let you use your imagination to figure out what that means.

So on that note… I think it’s time to call it quits on this list. After flirting with cannibalism just outside the Arctic Circle, there’s simply nowhere else to go. 

You’ll have to learn about the medicinal horrors of ttongsul in your own time.