Instead, I wanted to share with you the latest cocktail that has been single-handedly (do cocktails have hands in this analogy?) getting me through the lockdown lately. It’s called the Paper Plane, and it’s technically a whisky cocktail. Like another of my staples, the Negroni, it’s easy to make because it’s easy to remember. A note on ingredients, though. While you can use any bourbon (or rye) that you like, the Amaro Nonino is kind of mandatory.
Supposedly of Scottish origin, the Hot Toddy has been a staple of drinking culture since as early as the 1750s (or earlier, the first printed reference was in 1750). Often prescribed by doctors as a cure-all, it quickly became the quintessential hot cocktail and was made with anything that came to hand when the called-for Scottish malt whisky wasn’t available: rum, bourbon, rye, applejack, brandy, pot-still Hollands gin (a malty spirit unlike today’s dry gins), etc. The original recipe called only for hot water, spirits, sugar, and nutmeg.
Bryan, as is his wont, does all kinds of crazy things to create these rums, including his usual voodoo involving oak barrels that somehow create super-aged and super-dark spirits in no time at all… Seriously, if you’ve ever even been remotely interested in dark rum, at least seek out a bottle of the Navy Style.
A fictional description of my ideal bar: a place to drink good spirits and eat quality food in an environment that enables the enjoyment of both. Unfortunately, this is (to my knowledge) a fantasy.