For a lot of us, we’re coming up on a year since we flying a proper airplane and having a civilized airplane experience. Remember champagne before takeoff? We will seriously be eating and drinking everything in sight when the Golden Age (pre-2020) of travel returns. In the meantime, here’s a drink that is aptly called the Paper Plane cocktail. Serve with a side of warm nuts.
It Started with Amaro Nonino
We can across the paper plane because we had a bottle of Amaro Nonino. We admittedly purchased the Amaro because it was pretty and looked good on our office bar. (Thank you Luis Hill Design). But as with everything at Galavante, beauty has function, and we wanted to create a drink with the Amaro. Amaro Nonino is an herbal grappa, that’s a subtly sweet. It has a slight after note of bitter, all enveloped with herbs and orange. So as we started to research, we came across a Paper Plane cocktail. This is a new cocktail, created in 2008 in Chicago at a local spot called The Violet Hour. It had components that we really liked, and also had on our home bar. Besides Amaro, the Paper Plane cocktail includes bourbon and Aperol.
If you trend towards less sweet drinks, you can also substitute Campari, which for us makes the drink more refreshing. However, we know Campari is an acquired taste. We also love our Harlem Standard Bourbon in this drink. While Harlem is more of a sipping Bourbon than a mixer, we like to go all out. The Harlem Standard shines in this drink. We have yet to find a guest who hasn’t liked this drink as an opener. If you serve this Paper Plane cocktail, don’t be surprised if everyone asks for seconds.
Makes 1 perfect cocktail
Ingredients
3/4 ounce Harlem Standard Bourbon
3/4 ounce Aperol or Campari
3/4 ounce Amaro Nonino
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed Meyer Lemon
Directions
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, carefully measure out all your ingredients. Do not free pour. It’s the balance of all four of the ingredients that creates the perfect combination of sweet, bitter, rich and refreshing.
Shake for at least one minute, and pour into champagne coups. Alternatively, for those who prefer it on the rocks, a nice crystal glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of Meyer lemon. For those who have artistic chops, make yourself miniature paper planes. It is called the Paper Plane cocktail for a reason. Serve immediately and enjoy, repeatedly.
