The Painkiller is rum, pineapple, orange and coconut cream, shaken and dusted with nutmeg. Richer than a Piña Colada, drier than it sounds, and the nutmeg is not optional — it is half the drink.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Bombarda Culverin
- 4 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz fresh orange juice
- 1 oz cream of coconut
- Freshly grated nutmeg and a pineapple wedge, to garnish
Method of Attack:
- Add the rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and cream of coconut to a shaker with ice.
- Shake vigorously until well chilled.
- Strain into a hurricane glass or snifter over crushed ice.
- Grate fresh nutmeg generously over the top and add a pineapple wedge.
- Serve with a straw.
About This Recipe:
The Painkiller was born at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, in the 1970s. The bar has no dock — you swim ashore from your boat, which is how it got the name, since everyone arrived with wet money.
The difference between a Painkiller and a Piña Colada is orange juice, a shake instead of a blend, and the nutmeg. Those three changes make it drier, more aromatic and considerably more interesting.
Why this rum:
Pineapple juice, orange juice and coconut cream — three sweet ingredients before the rum arrives. Add a rum that has been sweetened at the bottling line and there is no dry note left anywhere in the glass.
Culverin is a 5 to 8 year blend from Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Panama, and it finishes dry and peppery. That finish is what cuts the coconut cream and stops the drink turning into dessert. No added sugar, no caramel colorant, no chill filtration.
Battle Notes:
Grate the nutmeg fresh over the top, and be generous. Pre-ground nutmeg is a different and much duller spice, and on this drink the aroma is most of the first mouthful.
For a version with watermelon, see In Drake's Wake. For the blended cousin, our Piña Colada guide.
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