Paper Plane
A twist on The Last Word
Prep time:
Four ingredients in the same measure and none of them wins. Sam Ross created it in 2008 by applying the Last Word logic to whiskey, and it has become one of the few modern classics everyone recognises.
Ingredients
- 22.5 ml bourbon
- 22.5 ml Aperol
- 22.5 ml Amaro Nonino
- 22.5 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Ice
Preparation
- Chill a coupe with ice and water while you get everything else ready.
- Measure all four with a jigger, no eyeballing. In an equal-parts drink, five millilitres off in any of them shows, because there is no dominant ingredient to cover it.
- Add them to the shaker with plenty of ice and shake hard for about ten seconds.
- Double strain into the chilled coupe: the fine mesh catches the ice shards and leaves the drink clean.
- No garnish. It is one of the few classics that goes without and does not miss it.
Bartender’s notes
Why equal parts?
Because it is the structure it inherits from the Last Word, and it works for a specific reason: the four ingredients play different roles — the bourbon brings the alcohol, the Aperol the bitter fruit, the Nonino the spice and the lemon the acidity — and none needs more room than the others to do its job. It is also what makes it easy to remember: once you know it is four equal things, you do not need the recipe.
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