The Paper Plane: Why It's Having a Moment
2024-11-17 · 5 min read
The Paper Plane is the rare modern classic cocktail that deserves the title. Created by Sam Ross at The Violet Hour in Chicago in 2008, it is an equal-parts drink: three-quarters of an ounce each of bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, and fresh lemon juice. Shaken, strained, and served up. It tastes like autumn in a glass, bittersweet and warm and perfectly balanced.
The drink flew under the radar for years because Amaro Nonino was hard to find outside major cities. As the amaro boom hit in the 2010s and liquor stores expanded their Italian spirits sections, the Paper Plane suddenly became makeable at home. Social media did the rest, with bartenders championing it as the cocktail they wished more people knew about.
What makes the Paper Plane brilliant is how it teaches drinkers about amaro. Amaro Nonino is the most approachable of the Italian bitter liqueurs, with notes of orange peel, saffron, and warm spice. In the context of the Paper Plane, it adds complexity without the intensity that scares amaro newcomers. The drink is essentially an amaro primer disguised as a bourbon cocktail.
The equal-parts formula makes it a bartender favorite because it scales effortlessly. Need to make six? Same ratio, just multiply. No fussy measurements or half-ounce adjustments. It is one of those recipes that demonstrates how the best cocktails are often the simplest on paper but the most precise in execution.
The Paper Plane has now appeared on menus from New York to Tokyo, and Amaro Nonino has become a staple rather than a specialty item at most well-stocked bars. It proves that the cocktail renaissance is not just about rediscovering old recipes but about creating new ones that feel like they have always existed. Sam Ross built something that will outlast trends.
