Ingredients
- 0.75 oz Bourbon Whiskey
- 0.75 oz Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
- 0.75 oz Fresh lemon juice
- 0.75 oz Aperol liqueur
Method
- Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.
- Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds.
- Double-strain into a coupe glass.
- Garnish with lemon twist or a zest.
In the time the BH team has been compiling some of the most influential and popular cocktail recipes you’ll encounter in pop culture, we’ve tended toward drinks that trace their origin to the 20th and sometimes even late 19th century.
Our recent Espresso Martini recipe was one notable exception to that trend: having been concocted in London’s clubland scene during the early 1980s.
Now, we’ve added another even younger serve in the form of the Paper Plane: a ‘modern classic’ that itself derives from a Prohibition-era drink known as The Last Word.
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In addition to the fact that the Paper Plane is a relatively recent invention, I’m sure it’ll tickle quite a few readers pink to know that we have an Aussie bartender to credit for its development.
Sam Ross (who now co-owns ‘World’s 50 Best’ venue Attaboy) hit upon the idea to make a more bitter, whisky-based alternative to the classic Last Word back in 2007.
And, unlike so many traditional classics — which come with a convoluted mythology that is often of dubious credibility — Ross called his creation the ‘Paper Plane’, because of the eponymous M.I.A. banger that he’d often shake it up to, during a summer stint at Milk & Honey.
Like so many of Ross’s other cult recipes, the Paper Plane’s popularity can be explained by its remarkable balance of flavour and the fact that it toys with drinker’s expectations.
Being a malt & grain spirit, Bourbon whisky (which is essential to this drink) is often thought of in boozy and richly flavoured terms. Yet here, wed to Aperol, Amaro Nonino and fresh lemon juice, it unlocks a new surprisingly fruit-forward dimension.
One final word on ratios: eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that the Paper Plane recipe calls for equal parts of every ingredient. So this summer, we encourage you to tap into its large-format potential and rustle up a bowlful at whatever festive shindig you’ve got planned.
Tiny plane garnish optional.
Enjoying this guide to all things Paper Plane? Then why not check out some of our other classic cocktail recipes? Below are a few essential ones to get you started:
