Sam Ross
Alessandro Scire CalabrisottoShare
Some bartenders are remembered for a great bar; a rare few are remembered for inventing modern classics. Sam Ross belongs firmly to the latter group. The creator of two of the twenty-first century's most widely served cocktails, this Australian-born bartender has had an outsized influence on the way the world drinks today.
Early Life & Path to the Bar
Sam Ross was born in Australia and began his bartending journey in Melbourne, a city with a strong and discerning café and bar culture. Drawn to the craft and ambition of the international cocktail scene, he made the pivotal move to New York City, where he would find the environment that shaped him into one of the most respected bartenders of his generation.
The Rise of Sam Ross
Ross's career took flight at Milk & Honey, the legendary and famously discreet New York bar founded by the late Sasha Petraske. Working under Petraske, a towering figure in the cocktail revival, Ross absorbed a philosophy built on precision, hospitality and respect for the craft.
He went on to co-found Attaboy, the acclaimed bar that took over the original Milk & Honey location on the Lower East Side. Attaboy became a fixture on lists of the world's best bars, renowned for its bespoke approach in which bartenders craft drinks to each guest's taste rather than working from a fixed menu — cementing Ross's reputation at the very top of the industry.
Signature Drinks & Contributions
Ross is best known as the creator of the Penicillin, a modern classic combining blended Scotch, a smoky Islay float, honey, ginger and lemon. Invented in the mid-2000s, it has become one of the most ordered contemporary cocktails in the world and a benchmark of the modern canon.
He is also credited with the Paper Plane, an equal-parts cocktail of bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and lemon juice that has likewise achieved global popularity. To have created not one but two drinks that are now served in bars across the planet is a genuinely rare achievement, and it stands as the cornerstone of his contribution to the craft.
Legacy
Sam Ross's legacy is written into cocktail menus the world over. The Penicillin and the Paper Plane have entered the modern canon so thoroughly that many drinkers order them without knowing they are barely two decades old. Through these creations and his influential bar work, Ross has helped define the taste of an entire era of cocktail culture.
Curiosity: A Fun Fact About Sam Ross
The Paper Plane takes its name from a popular song, and its elegant equal-parts formula — a quarter each of four ingredients — has made it a favourite teaching cocktail for bartenders, precisely because it is so easy to remember and so reliably delicious.