Saturday, July 25, 2009

Toad in Your Cocktail?

We enjoyed Andy Dick's clown performance so much (protesting McDonald's) we wondered if some nonprofit group would want to send him to Asia for an encore?



There is a number of critter-based East Asian beverages that may be worth checking out.





In some cases, an animal-derived substance is incorporated into a drink’s recipe.



Japan’s Nihon Shokuten company markets a soft drink that has it's as its not-so-secret ingredient, swine placenta.



Or maybe you’d prefer eel essence. That’s what another Japanese firm fortifies one of its drinks with—and this one’s carbonated, for maximum refreshment!


How about some kind of beastly cocktail?


In China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, fresh snake bile is sometimes added to rice wine or harder drink, creating a mixture meant—like nearly all such drinks—as a general tonic.


Taipei’s Snake Alley has long been famous as a place to get your snake-bile fix.


The most common concoctions are made by steeping animal parts or whole animals in some kind of alcoholic liquid. But the really good news is that these are regarded as medicinal.

So, what might you find in one of these concocted bottles? How about lizard—gecko is a very popular additive in Vietnam.


Or whole snake, or scorpion. Seahorse can be nice, or toad, or perhaps bees.


Come on Andy, get your clown suit on and dance your way through Asia.