The Painkiller is the one tiki drink where the rum is written into the recipe by law. Pusser's owns the trademark, and the official version calls for Pusser's and nothing else. But the drink was born at a beach bar, not a boardroom, and the rum question is more interesting than the label suggests: pineapple, orange, and cream of coconut will bury a weak rum, so what you want is weight, molasses depth, and enough proof to show up through four ounces of juice. Here's the real recipe, the rum it was built on, and the bottles in stock that make it better.
Shop all rum in stock at Chips Liquor
Where the Painkiller Comes From
The drink was created in the 1970s at the Soggy Dollar Bar on White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, in the British Virgin Islands, a bar with no dock, so you swam in and paid with wet money. Charles Tobias, the founder of Pusser's, loved it, worked out the recipe, and trademarked the name for Pusser's in the late 1980s. Pusser's itself is the civilian version of the Royal Navy's daily rum ration, which ended on Black Tot Day, July 31, 1970; Tobias bought the rights to the Admiralty blend and launched the brand in 1979, with a share of each sale going to the Royal Navy Sailors' Fund.
The Recipe
Pusser's publishes the ratio on the bottle, and it's the one worth memorizing: 2-4-1-1.
- 2 oz Pusser's rum (or one of the bottles below)
- 4 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz cream of coconut (Coco López, not coconut milk)
- 1 oz orange juice
- Freshly grated nutmeg on top
Shake hard with ice, pour into a big glass over crushed ice, grate nutmeg over it. The nutmeg isn't optional; it's what makes it taste like a Painkiller instead of a smoothie. For a Painkiller #3 or #4, as the Soggy Dollar numbers them, use 3 or 4 oz of rum. Four is a lot. Two is the drink.
The Best Rums for a Painkiller
Pusser's British Navy Rum (the original)
The rum the drink is named for, blended from Caribbean rums including Guyanese stock from the wooden stills at Demerara Distillers, and bottled in a liter, which matters because Painkillers go fast. It's molasses-rich, a little smoky, and heavy enough to carry the juice. If you want the drink the way the Soggy Dollar makes it, this is the bottle, and it's the best value on this list by the ounce.
Pusser's Gunpowder Proof (the upgrade)
The same house blend at 54.5% ABV, the original Admiralty strength, named for the old test of igniting gunpowder soaked in rum to prove it hadn't been watered down. In a Painkiller the extra proof is the point: the rum stops hiding behind the pineapple. Use 2 oz and nobody will ask for a #3.
Hamilton 86 Demerara
Pusser's gets much of its character from Guyana, and Hamilton 86 is pure Guyana: DDL pot and column marques aged up to five years at 43% ABV, with no sugar added. Beachbum Berry has called it one of six rums a tiki enthusiast will ever need. It makes a slightly drier, more honest Painkiller than Pusser's, with the same dark-sugar depth.
Hamilton Navy Strength
A 57% ABV blend of 60% Guyanese rum and 40% Worthy Park Jamaican pot still, which is roughly what a navy blend was. The Jamaican share adds funk that pineapple loves. This is the Painkiller for people who think Painkillers are too sweet.
Smith & Cross
100% Jamaican pot still at 57% ABV, in the old London Dock style. Off-recipe, and brilliant: the overripe banana and funk turn the drink into something closer to a Jungle Bird's cousin. Split it half and half with Pusser's if you want the funk without losing the original.
Worthy Park 109
Jamaican pot still rum at 54.5% ABV, colored dark for exactly this kind of drink, under $30. The best-value high-proof dark rum on the shelf, and it carries a Painkiller without the price of Smith & Cross.
Mount Gay Black Barrel
The polished option. Barbados pot-and-column rum with a second maturation in heavily charred bourbon barrels, 43% ABV. Vanilla and toasted spice that sit nicely under nutmeg. Softer than the navy rums, and the one to use if you're making Painkillers for people who don't usually drink rum.
Planteray O.F.T.D. (the float)
Don't build the drink on 69% rum. Do float half an ounce on top. O.F.T.D. was designed by a committee of tiki bartenders for this job, and it adds dark, licorice-and-molasses weight over the nutmeg.
Which to Pick
- The original: Pusser's Blue Label.
- Best overall: Pusser's Gunpowder Proof.
- Drier, no added sugar: Hamilton 86.
- Funky: Hamilton Navy Strength or Smith & Cross.
- Under $30: Worthy Park 109.
- For a crowd of non-rum drinkers: Mount Gay Black Barrel.
Shipping From Chips Liquor
Every bottle above is in stock at our Pacific Beach shop in San Diego and ships fast to most states. For more on the rums behind the drink, read our guides to Hamilton rum and Mount Gay, or browse the full rum collection.