Paper Plane
Bittersweet, bright, and dangerously easy to drink. If someone tells you they don’t like amaro, this is the one that changes their mind.
Amaro Nonino is the bottle people hesitate over and then never regret. This is the drink that justifies it.
Paper Plane
Coupe · None
Ingredients
- ¾ ozBourbon
- ¾ ozAperol
- ¾ ozAmaro Nonino
- ¾ ozFresh lemon juice
Method
- 1Combine bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and fresh lemon juice in a shaker.
- 2Add ice and shake hard for 12 seconds.
- 3Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
History
Created by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey in New York City around 2007 and named after the M.I.A. song. Ross applied the Last Word's equal-parts structure — first formalized at the Detroit Athletic Club around 1915 — to a modern flavor profile, pairing Aperol's bittersweet orange with the herbal complexity of Amaro Nonino. It appears in *Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails* as one of the defining cocktails of the neo-Prohibition revival and is now regarded as a contemporary classic.
Amaro Nonino is non-substitutable — its grappa base and restrained bitterness are calibrated into the balance. Equal parts is the recipe; resist adjusting ratios until you've made it exactly as written at least once. Because all four components are shelf-stable, this batches beautifully: combine equal volumes and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
