While Bolivia’s national drink is Singani, most drink it mixed in a cocktail — and specifically as a chuflay. Bertil Levin Tøttenborg, sommelier at Gustu, takes us through the interesting history and the ultimate recipe for a chuflay. 

The history of the Bolivian chuflay cocktail

This long drink is the most common in Bolivia and was invented somewhere between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. A heady mix of ginger and Singani, there are many tales of how the chuflay originated but one seems to trump all others. 

It is said that while British engineers were in Bolivia building the great (and now sadly defunct) Transandean railway, they used to drink a long drink made from Gin, ginger ale and a slice of lime — similar to their own G&T at home. One day, when the gin ran out, the British engineers resorted to using the local spirit, Singani, instead. By mixing Singani with Ginger Ale and a slice of lime, they created the Chuflay — whose recipe remains the same today. 

Why Chuflay instead of S&T, or perhaps S&G? There are many stories about how the unusual name came about. Some locals say that the Brits called the cocktail a “Short Fly”, railway jargon for a temporary railway line that was built to avoid an obstacle like a temporarily flooded area. Since the British only thought the shortage of gin was temporary, this was the name given to the drink. Another anecdote is that “Short Fly” was slang for a shortcut on the railway line, and this boozy cocktail was a shortcut to inebriation!

Whatever “Short Fly” referred to, it was a tricky one for locals to pronounce and its pronunciation morphed into “Chuflay”, which is what the drink is called today. Another tale around the name “Chuflay” is that the drink picked up the moniker as the British were constantly shooing away flies that swarmed the sweet drink in the summer. “Shoo, shoo fly” became “Chuflay.”

The ultimate Chuflay recipe

• 50 ml. Singani
• 20 ml. Lime Juice
• 30 ml. Simple Syrup
• 30 ml. Fresh Ginger Juice
• 50 ml. Sparkling Water
• Slice of Lime

This is a homemade version of the Chuflay cocktail, although the traditional version would just use store-bought Ginger Ale (130 ml) with Singani (50 ml). Whichever you choose to make, build the ingredients in a highball glass with ice cubes and garnish with a slice of lime. 

Another variation I love to serve at Gustu is using dry ginger kombucha (100 ml) with Singani (50 ml), simple sugar syrup (30 ml or to taste) and a slice of lime. And a sweeter angle on the Chuflay, which we call a Chuflay Chinchi, is using 30 ml mocochinchi syrup (made from dehydrated peaches, sugar, cinnamon and cloves) with 50 ml Singani, 20 ml lime juice, 30 ml fresh ginger juice, 50 ml sparkling water and garnishing it with a slice of rehydrated peach. 

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