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    Home » Recipes

    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail

    Published: Mar 22, 2019 · Modified: Mar 31, 2019 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · 16 Comments

    • 22
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Chuflay is a traditional Bolivian cocktail prepared with Singani, ice, ginger ale and lemon. Really, it is that simple!!! I have enjoyed this drink so many times throughout the years since I have met my husband. My father in law prepares it quite often for family gatherings. However, I was the one to prepare it last Friday. It was a crazy week. My husband was traveling for work and came home Friday night. We both had a hard week between flights and kids activities that by Friday night we needed an end to the week. What better way I thought than a simple Chuflay drink!!

    Jump to Recipe
    Chuflay Boliviano - a traditional Bolivian hard drink made with Singani, ginger ale and lemon
    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail

    History of Chuflay

    Chuflay originated somewhere around end of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century. It seems the details of how the drink originated are a bit fuzzy, there are several versions out there. I kept messaging family members from my husband’s side and asked if they knew how Chuflay originated and got plenty of interesting responses.

    One story says that the drink was born on the onset of the 20th century developing railroads in the country. The favorite drink of the administration employees at the time was a drink called Gin & Gin made with gin and ginger ale. However, gin was kind of hard to come by so these officials (mostly of English origins) replaced gin with singani.

    The new drink made with singani and ginger ale got called short-fly by the railroad workers. That was a term they used to represent a temporary pass over a dangerous area, an overpass etc. This was because they considered the replacement of gin with singani a short-fly, a temporary solution. As the drink became more popular on its own, no longer a replacement for something but instead a cocktail of its own merits, the locals started calling it chuflay.

    The other story says that Americans used to drink singani with soda in the Yungas area of Bolivia. It is a forested area, very humid and warm. Because of the humidity and so many flies and mosquitos, it is said that the Americans used to try to scare them by hand while holding their drinks and saying Shut Fly, Shut Fly which the locals took it as chuflay.

    I got to confirm both stories not only with family members but also with the current director of Casa De La Moneda (Potosi), Luis Arturo Leyton. I’m very thankful to him for taking time from his busy schedule to answer my questions.

    Now almost a century later, chuflay is considered a cocktail representing Bolivian gastronomy and is part of national patrimony.

    What Is Singani?

    Singani is a Bolivian drink distilled from grapes, more specifically white Muscat of Alexandria grapes. It is sort of similar to Eau de Vie (French), Raki (Albanian), Schnaps (German), Grappa (Italian) etc. This type of grape is grown in the valleys of Tarija, Sucre and Potosi regions.

    Singani is the principal liquor of several Bolivian drinks like Chuflay, Poncho Negro etc. Several famous brands of Bolivian Singani include: Casa Real, Rujero, Los Parrales etc.

    Singani’s History!

    Spanish missionaries started growing the first grapevines in Bolivia in the mid 16th century. Most of the distilled grape drinks of that time were called aguardientes thoughout the Americas. However, the merchants saw the need to differentiate between different liquors by area of production. The Bolivian Singani word was born from the Aymara language word of ‘siwingani’ and slowly took the form of we use today.

    There’s also a theory that Singani took its name from a farm/ranch called Hacienda Singani which is located about 3 miles from Turuchipa (Potosi). Luis Arturo Leyton, Director of Casa De La Moneda (Potosi) recently found a document that points towards this theory. All the aguardientes of the time were called just aguardiente and little by little they started taking the name of the location where they came from. When this aguardiente from Hacienda Singani would come over in containers made of goat skin, people would say that ‘Aguardiente Singani arrived’. And that’s how maybe Bolivian Singani got its name.

    Interesting tidbit I found online while searching information on Singani is that a famous Hollywood director liked it so much that he collaborated with Casa Real to create his own brand of singani called Singani63. This brand is sponsored by Steven Soderbergh as part of his The Steven Soderbergh Adventure program.

    Chuflay: Ginger Ale or Lemon Soda?

    It hasn’t been long since I published this post. I got a lot of great feedback but I noticed that some people do drink chuflay with ginger ale and some with sprite or 7up. While that is a matter of personal preference, I wanted to investigate in more detail what the traditional way of serving Chuflay is.

    I posted in Social Media, anywhere from Instagram to forums like Reddit and got lots of great responses. The overall consensus is that the original drink is made with ginger ale. One person mentioned that singani/sprite version is a staple at Bolivian weddings together with whiskey and coke.

    I was pleasantly surprised to get an answer to my question in Instagram from brand Rujero Singani: “Always Ginger Ale! Preferably Canady Dry. If you wanna spice things up, try it with ginger beer.” So now I’m definitely going to get some ginger beer and try this drink with a twist:).

    And the funniest answer I got was in Spanish and I’ll quote it exactly as it was written. ” Un paceño que se respete lo toma con ginger ale de Canada Dry y sus gotas y rodaja de limon. ” My translation of that answer would be: Any decent person from La Paz would drink it with Canada Dry Ginger Ale, lemon juice and a slice of lemon.

    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail Recipe

    The below recipe is just a guideline. Feel free to mix to taste. If you have never tried Singani before keep in mind that it is a strong drink. So I would start slow and add more to the drink. Or if you prepared the drink too strong, then add more ice and ginger ale to it.

    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail

    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail

    Sonila
    Chuflay is a traditional Bolivian cocktail prepared with a grape-distilled liquor called singani, ginger ale and lemon. 
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 2 mins
    Course Drinks
    Cuisine Bolivian, Latin American
    Servings 1

    Ingredients
      

    • 3 ice cubes
    • 1 shot glass singani
    • 1 slice lemon
    • 6 oz ginger ale
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

    Instructions
     

    • I usually prepare each glass separately instead of mixing a big pitcher. 
    • Add ice cubes, add shot of singani, and lemon slice. Pour ginger ale on top. It’s optional to add a bit of lemon juice too, that varies from person to person. 
    • If you don’t have ginger ale, try the same drink with sprite or seven up, it’s not the same but it’s still delicious. 
    • Cheers!!! 
    Keyword bolivian chuflay, bolivian cocktail, chuflay, cocktail, singani
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!

    If you would like to save this cocktail recipe for later, please pin the below image to Pinterest or press the sharing Pin It button in the bottom of the post. Thank you and enjoy it responsibly:))

    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail made with Singani
    Bolivian Chuflay Cocktail

    Other Bolivian Recipes

    If you would like to checkout some of my Bolivian food recipes please see the links below:

    1. Silpancho
    2. Sopa De Mani
    3. Arroz Con Queso

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    • 22

    Filed Under: Bolivian, Drinks, Recipes Tagged With: bolivian chuflay, chuflay, chuflay boliviano, singani, trago boliviano

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tania / Fit Foodie Nutter

      March 31, 2019 at 6:54 pm

      I’m not very good at making cocktails but this one looks so good that u have to try it! 👍🏻

      Reply
      • Sonila

        March 31, 2019 at 7:07 pm

        It’s very easy Tania:), few ingredients and forgiving recipe. Often times i just eyeball it instead of measuring the ingredients.

        Reply
    2. Ilona

      March 31, 2019 at 5:44 pm

      I like to learn about new recipes from other countries. Looks so refreshing!

      Reply
      • Sonila

        March 31, 2019 at 5:53 pm

        Thank you Ilona, it is very refreshing:).

        Reply
    3. Pam Greer

      March 31, 2019 at 2:52 pm

      5 stars
      What an interesting cocktail! I have never heard of Singani and I can’t wait to try it! I love reading about the history behind cocktails!

      Reply
      • Sonila

        March 31, 2019 at 7:06 pm

        I’m hesitant to write long stories, after all readers like to come for the recipe:)). But i felt the story behind this drink was important to share and i felt privileged being able to write about it:). Thank you for taking the time to read it.

        Reply
        • Holly Bird

          April 26, 2019 at 8:51 pm

          I love your stories! My 2nd “dad is Albanian, and your stories help me understand his heritage, he would never really talk about it before he passed, so I thank you..

          Reply
          • Sonila

            April 30, 2019 at 12:31 pm

            Any questions you have, let me know:)))

            Reply
        • Christina

          October 08, 2022 at 9:06 pm

          5 stars
          Hi! I was at the Casa Real distillery (not far outside the city of Tarija) in early June and your recipe is very close to what they made for us there. One comment, which has been a topic of some debate in our family, is the lemon. In Bolivia their lemons seem more like what we know as limes in the US. My husband (Bolivian) often has a language moment with lemon/lime, broader discussion than just this cocktail. We make our Chuflay with limes.

          Reply
          • Sonila

            October 09, 2022 at 7:44 pm

            Hi Christina, visiting the distillery and Tarija in general is on my bucket list for next time we go to Bolivia. So far I have been in Santa Cruz, La Paz, Sucre and Potosi (also some smaller towns like Coroico and Cayara). However, I do have a bottle of Casa Real Singani at home that we got as a gift from my husband’s cousins when they visited from Bolivia. I totally get you on the lemon/lime confusion. My husband who is Bolivian as well says limon for limes I think and lima for a completely different fruit. So I end up asking, yellow or green sometimes when I wonder if he’s saying limon or lemon:)). All the best to you and thank you so much for commenting, I really appreciate all feedback! Muchas gracias:)

            Reply
    4. Rosa

      March 31, 2019 at 2:45 pm

      5 stars
      Mmm sounds fantastic. I could use 1 (or 3) of these today!

      Reply
      • admin

        March 31, 2019 at 3:01 pm

        Thank you Rosa!!!

        Reply
    5. Neha

      March 31, 2019 at 2:07 pm

      Looks like an excellent cocktail recipe, looks so creative and interesting. Wouldn’t mind a glass of it right about now!

      Reply
      • Sonila

        March 31, 2019 at 7:05 pm

        Thank you Neha:), it’s a great, simple cocktail.

        Reply
    6. Holly Bird

      March 22, 2019 at 6:01 pm

      5 stars
      YUM! I can wait to try this!! Thank you for this unique recipe!

      Reply
      • admin

        March 22, 2019 at 7:55 pm

        Thank you Holly!! Wish we lived closer, I would have invited you over for one!!! We have family members always bringing us Singani from Bolivia:)

        Reply

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    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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