If you haven’t already sampled one, I suggest you turn back to my chapter on whiskey and give the Paper Plane a try. That drink is equal parts bourbon, bittersweet Aperol, Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, and Amaro Nonino. Here, we go with a Mexican- influenced version, subbing tequila for bourbon. It has no grapefruit, but you would swear that was half the ingredients. Avion de Papel is a super refreshing and worthy variant of a modern classic.
Drinking a cocktail out of a clay planter? Well, yes, I’d love to! I first enjoyed a Cantorito at the now- defunct El Mexicano, an authentic Mexican joint in our neighborhood. And yes, it was served in a shallow clay pot with multiple straws. Basically, it’s a Mexican- inspired Scorpion Bowl In the end, the Cantarito is a dressed-up margarita, using various fruit juices and sweetened by soda. You can use the less- sugary Squirt or even use Topo Chico grapefruit flavor, although you might need to slip a 1/4 oz. of simple syrup into the drink if you do.
Here’s another Last Word varient, keeping the equal ratios and subbing tequila for gin. In a lot of ways, I find this an interesting improvement on the original where gin’s botanicals are replaced with the grassy and mineral notes of a great blanco tequila.
Dirty Word
SpiritAgave
Cocktail familyEqual-Parts · Sidecar
FlavorsFresh · Herbal
Makes
Ingredients
3/4ozBlanco Tequila
3/4ozFresh Squeezed Lime Juice
3/4ozMaraschino
3/4ozGreen Chartreuse
Method
Place ingredients in shaking tin, add ice, shake for 15 seconds.
For the small and socially distanced party we held in honor of our son Noah the night he became a Bar Mitzvah, I knew I needed to come up with a tasty cocktail for the couple of families who joined us in our backyard celebration. Dos Besitos (literally “two kisses”) fit the bill. Single Serving
