Painkiller
Dark rum with pineapple, orange and cream of coconut, with nutmeg on top. Creamy, tropical and sweet.
- Time
- 5 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Glass
- Highball
- Strength
- 2.4 UK units
How to make a Painkiller
- Combine in a shaker. Add the rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and cream of coconut to a shaker and fill it with ice.
- Shake hard. Shake for 12 seconds, until the shaker is icy cold and the drink has gone pale and frothy.
- Strain over crushed ice. Strain into a tall glass filled with crushed ice.
- Finish with nutmeg. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top, generously. It should smell of it as you lift the glass.
- Glass
- HighballNo highball? A hurricane glass or any large tumbler.
- Ice
- Crushed ice
- Garnish
- Freshly grated nutmeg and a pineapple wedgeOr: Nutmeg on its own.
What you need to make a Painkiller
Kit
JiggerA double-ended measure, usually 25 ml and 50 ml.
Cocktail shakerA two-piece Boston tin is the easiest to use and clean.
StrainerA Hawthorne strainer fits over the tin or glass.
Bottles we'd use
- Pusser's rumThe official rum for the drink, and the name belongs to Pusser's. A dark, full-bodied navy-style rum.Find it on Amazon
- Cream of coconutCoco Lopez is the standard. Do not use coconut milk or coconut cream.Find it on Amazon
Links to Amazon are affiliate links: if you buy through them, Bar Bandol may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Painkiller story
Painkiller is a registered trademark of Pusser's, and the official recipe uses Pusser's rum. The drink is usually credited to Daphne Henderson, who is said to have made it in the 1970s at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. Pusser's later took the name and rum for its own brand.
It is close to a Piña Colada with orange juice and a dark rum, and nutmeg on top does a lot of work. Use cream of coconut, the sweetened kind, because plain coconut milk is far too thin and not sweet enough.
Painkiller: your questions answered
What is in a Painkiller?
A Painkiller is made with 60 ml dark rum, 120 ml pineapple juice, 30 ml orange juice, 30 ml cream of coconut and nutmeg. Garnish: freshly grated nutmeg and a pineapple wedge.
Is a Painkiller shaken or stirred?
A Painkiller is shaken, not stirred. Shaking hard with ice chills it quickly and helps mix the juice in properly, which stirring cannot do. Shake until the outside of the shaker feels very cold.
How strong is a Painkiller?
Made to this recipe, a Painkiller contains about 2.4 UK units of alcohol per drink. That is worked out from typical bottle strengths, so it changes with the bottles you use. UK guidelines advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week.
What glass do you serve a Painkiller in?
Serve a Painkiller in a highball over ice. No highball? A hurricane glass or any large tumbler.
