Paper Plane
The cocktail that started Whisky & Ember.
Four parts, equal measure. A modern classic built on balance rather than spectacle — bitter against acid, amaro against citrus, with nothing to hide behind. Rebuilt here for the Canadian shelf: where the original leans on bourbon, we reach for a Canadian whisky that holds its weight against the Aperol and the Nonino.
Ingredients
- 30 ml Bourbon or Canadian whisky
- 30 ml Aperol
- 30 ml Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
- 30 ml Fresh lemon juice
Method
- Add all four ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake hard, 10–12 seconds. Dilution is the only water this drink gets — do not undershake.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe. Serve up, no garnish.
Bitterness is not a flavor here — it is structure. Aperol and the Nonino stand in for tannin, lemon carries the acid axis, and the whisky supplies weight. Equal parts only balances if the citrus is fresh and the shake is full; warm or under-diluted, the amaro turns medicinal.