A cocktail is a simple thing—what matters is if you make it right.

Sasha Petrake

If ever there is a bar that defined the dawn of the cocktail renaissance it was Milk & Honey in New York. Hidden away in the city’s Lower East Side this Speakeasy opened its doors on the 31st December 1999 by the visionary Sasha Petrake, pioneering a new way to drinking culture that is still being embraced to this day.

“The era of Prohibition, the 20s and early 30s, was the peak in a lot of ways: the peak of menswear, the peak of music, and the peak of cocktails. We are not in any way trying to go back to the past; I simply think that the 21st century is going to look like the 1920s.”

This ethos transcended every aspect of his bar, with every guest being politely greeted by well-dressed and mannered bartenders who would then expertly craft cocktails that were inspired by a bygone era.

Through his passion and dedication to bestow his wisdom, he galvanised a generation of pioneering bartenders, and it was only a matter of time before a modern classic would evolve from his teachings.

Step forward Sam Ross, who created the Paper Plane in 2007 for the opening of The Violet Hour in Chicago. This is an equal-parts riff on the then newly discovered Last Word using bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino Quinesstentia, and fresh lemon.

“This cocktail is named after the M.I.A. track that was blasting on repeat the summer we worked on the drink.”

Preparation

0.75oz / 22.5ml Fresh lemon juice

0.75oz / 22.5ml Aperol

0.75oz / 22.5ml Amaro Nonino Quintessentia 

0.75oz / 22.5ml Bourbon

Lemon coin

Prepare a lemon coin garnish. Fill a coupe with cubed ice and put it to one side. Add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Fill with cubed ice and shake for 10 seconds. Open and dip taste. Discard the cubed ice from the coupe and fine strain. Express the lemon oils over the cocktail and position on top.