Cardboard Plane

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (11 ratings)
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    Cardboard Plane

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Cardboard Plane image

Photographed in an UB Koto Old Fashioned 30cl

Ingredients:
1 oz Bourbon whiskey
3⁄4 oz Cointreau triple sec liqueur
1⁄2 oz Amaro (e.g. Meletti)
3⁄4 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1⁄2 oz Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
2 drop Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of grapefruit zest twist.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into ice-filled glass.
  5. EXPRESS grapefruit zest twist over cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A bittered orange and grapefruit riff on the contemporary classic Paper Plane.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created at the Lion's Share in San Diego, California, and brought to our attention, in April 2025, courtesy of fellow Discerning Drinker, Sterling Diesel, by way of a comment on our Paper Plane page.

Nutrition:

One serving of Cardboard Plane contains 172 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 19.11% alc./vol. (19.11° proof)
  • 20.1 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Scott Regenbogen’s Avatar Scott Regenbogen
2nd June at 21:26
Made this with Averna and it was very nicely balanced. Enough bitterness from the grapefruit, and rich texture from the Amaro. Came out great.
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Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
31st May at 11:38
A beautifully balanced and complex sour. I wonder why our good host could go no higher than four stars.
1
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Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
31st May at 11:56
Maybe it's just us but Meletti has the vaguest of vague hint of salted anchovy...one reason why we love it.
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