Cocktail of the Week: Blue Bottle Gin's A la Perchoine rides a tuk-tuk

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For decades, people have flocked to the island of Guernsey for its beautiful beaches, stunning scenery and laid-back life. Now, they have an additional exciting reason to go - a gin bar on wheels!

A few months ago, the Three Finger Distillery, makers of Blue Bottle Gin, received a a tuk tuk in ill repair. Enterprising as they are, they immediately saw much more than just a broken down bike and decided to refurbish the machine and transform it into a mobile showcase for their liquid baby. The Blue Bottle tuk tuk will surely entertain and help get the word out to islanders of their first local gin, but with Guernsey spanning a mere 30.1 square miles, the mini-transport will not travel far, which is probably for the best,

Popular the world over, the three-wheeled cabin cycles normally top out at 30 m.p.h. with a souped up version potentially pushing 70 m.p.h. Appreciated primarily in developing countries for their simplicity, relative cheapness and compact build, you’ll find local versions of the glorified motorised bicycles from Cambodia to Cuba and Pakistan to Peru. In Occidental nations, both pedal-powered and auto rickshaws are becoming an increasingly common sight in tourist areas where tuk-tuk tours promise an intimate visit of cities without the accompanying crowded tour buses and exhausting long walks. 

Some brave souls, however, have found tuk tuks offer much more than a quick taxi ride. In August 2013, Nick Gough and Richard Sears from the Graduate Teacher Programme in Guildford shoved off from the British Museum on a 16-month, 39 country world tuk tuk tour to raise awareness for educational issues around the world. Money they raise through the charity they set up to accompany the tour is donated to other educational charities and projects with which they work, primarily the Global Campaign for Education.  

To boot, the pair earned themselves a Guinness World Record for the longest ride in a tuk tuk, a feat they achieved when they crossed 23,300 miles in Peru, pulling the affectionately-named Tommy the last 43 miles through sheer force as the motor gave out. Adventurer Ranulph Fiennes and actress Joanna Lumley were amongst the supporters of Nick and Richard’s charitable trip to which you can still contribute by visiting their website, www.tuktuktravels.com.

The English duo has inspired others with similar awareness goals. Most recently, a threesome of friends from the IAE Graduate School of Management in Toulouse, France, have launched the Pilgreen Project to “show the world that electric power will be, in the long-run, the key energy to people’s mobility. They’re traveling from Bangkok to Toulouse over 20,000 kilometres through 16 countries all with two electric tuk tuk batteries and one solar panel. At the time of writing, they were rickshawing through Western China on their way to Kazakhstan. 

With their roots in Toulouse, it’s likely that the tuk tuk trio leave the people they meet with the standard French farewell, “A la prochaine!”, a phrase meaning “Until the next time!” that bears a striking resemblance to the name of the Blue Bottle cocktail you are now mixing, the Guernésiais “A La Perchoine.”

A la Perchoine (until we meet again)

Ingredients:

• 40ml Blue Bottle Gin
• 10ml Campari
• Whole Passionfruit
• 15ml Fresh Lemon Juice
• 10ml Rhubarb Syrup
• Dash of Orange Bitters

40ml Blue Bottle Gin

10ml Campari

Whole Passionfruit

15ml Fresh Lemon Juice

10ml Rhubarb Syrup

Dash of Orange Bitters

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, shake with ice and fine strain into a cocktail glass. Serve straight up with a lemon twist.