Avioncito

Sam Ross's (of Little Branch, NYC) Paper Plane serves as a template for a fertile class of delightful bitter cocktails. With equal parts spirit, bright amaro, dark amaro, and sour, it's also perfect for the Mixology Monday monthly [-ish] on-line cocktail lovefest. September, 2012 marks the re-launch of MxMo, hosted by Fred Yarm of the highly-recommended Cocktail Virgin Slut blog. The theme? Equal Parts. Convenient, no?

Avioncito means "little airplane" — or paper airplane — in Spanish. With tequila for bourbon, Cynar for Aperol, Zucca for Amaro Nonino, and lime juice for lemon, the little plane shares no ingredients with its ancestor. Tequila and somewhat darker flavors shift the balance from summer to fall, so start sipping now.

I've also made this with Campari for Cynar, with equally good results. I retained the Cynar because its earthy flavors complement the reposado Tequila ... and also to distance the drink from the wonderful-on-its-own inspiration.

Zucca is a rabarbaro -- an amaro made from rhubarb, and in this case, the roots of Chinese rhubarb. It's a bit harder to find that Campari and Cynar, but its woodsy character is unmistakable in the cocktail. If unavailable, substitute another brown amaro, such as Ramazzotti, Averna, or (even better) Lucano. Different, but also great.

Finallt got around to trying this. Really good. I'm not a huge tequila fan but this one is a keeper. I did end up bumping the tequila to 1.5 oz to cut the sweetness from the amari

I liked it - used Milagro Reposado and Averna instead of the Zucca - but didn't taste the tequila as much. Maybe the MIlagro isn't as assertive as the Espolon (I'm not a tequila guy, so not sure)?

Good. I had Cynar 70 so dropped it to 30. Zucca and lime dominate intensely upfront and then evolves with more agave and cynar at the end of the taste. Not unpleasant but suspect may be better balanced if I drop the zucca a bit and up the tequila.