Paper Plane
The modern classic that put amaro on every cocktail menu in America.
The Method
How to make it
- 01
Chill a coupe glass in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- 02
Add all four ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice.
- 03
Shake hard for 10–12 seconds until the tin is frosty.
- 04
Double-strain into the chilled coupe.
- 05
Serve immediately. No garnish needed — the color is the show.
Bartender's Tip
If you find it too sweet, drop the Aperol to ½ oz and bump the lemon to 1 oz. If it tastes flat, you didn't shake hard enough — dilution and aeration are doing real work here.
A Little History
Created in 2007 by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey in New York, named after the M.I.A. song that was everywhere that summer. The Paper Plane single-handedly introduced a generation of bartenders (and drinkers) to Amaro Nonino — and it remains the gateway amaro cocktail.
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The Bitter Brief
One short Friday dispatch: a bottle worth buying, a cocktail worth mixing, and a little Italian history.
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