Twists on the Painkiller

Pussers is one of my favourite rum brands - it's got tons of character & nice little history.

The Pusser website states that it is a blend of Guyanese & Trinidadian rum, I've also heard that a Jamaican rum has been used in the blend past.

You can see the whole recently rebranded product range on the website but I'm lucky enough to easily be able to find the 'gunpowder' version (54.5% or 109 proof). Despite having fewer tiki drink applications, I like to keep a bottle on hand.

The main drink that calls for Pussers is the Painkiller - a mix of rum, orange juice, coconut cream with lots of pineapple juice.

There is a TC thread dedicated to people's enjoyment when they first tried one. Another TC thread compares it unfavourably to a Piña Colada! So there's clearly divergent opinions.

For me, the combination doesn't cut it - all the flavours are there but with too much sweetness & lots of pineapple juice with very little else to balance it... I also think the drink diminishes Pussers rums character which is a great shame. Sure you can 'up' the rum til you can taste it but my thought it 'why not balance it better in the first place?'.

I have noticed a few tiki bars offer their own twists on the Painkiller (eg Three Dots & A Dash's Painkiller No 3) so I thought I'd throw the net TC-ward:

What twists have you come up with or heard of on the Painkiller?

Here's my simple 2:

• 'Rum forward' Painkiller

1/2 lime
1 coconut cream
1 orange
1 pineapple
1 1/2 Pussers

Like a normal Painkiller but with the rum more in focus.

• 'Campari' Painkiller

1/2 lime
1/2 Campari
1 coconut cream
1 orange
1 pineapple
1 1/2 Pussers

The combination of Pussers & Campari was something I saw suggested on the A Mountain Of Crushed Ice website so I just popped a little Campari in my 'Rum Forward' Painkiller - nice twist.

Very nice. I will try the Rum Forward Painkiller tonight

I will re-post my version:

On 2013-03-16 21:26, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Here is my "Kraken Killer" recipe
I think this is better then the classic "Painkiller" which I am still a big fan of.

In a Cocktail Shaker, half filled with ice

2 oz. Kraken Rum
1 oz. Cruzan Coconut Rum
1 oz. Monin Coconut Syrup (I like this much better then Coco Lopez, which is lumpy & has a chalky after taste to it)
4 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice

Give it a good shaking, pour into a tall glass or mug of your choice with more ice
and dust with Nutmeg.

Now enjoy the hell out of it!
Please let me know if you prefer this over the classic recipe, most people I serve this to, do....

For an extra treat, try it with fresh squeezed orange juice.

AdorAdam, I couldn't agree with you more. I have tried this drink many times and each time I think it has too much fruit juice and it's too sweet so I end up adding more liquor and somehow it is never the right balance. I will try your versions at some point and let you know, oh and I will try the Campari version it sounds interesting.

On 2015-08-31 00:37, AdOrAdam wrote:
There is a TC thread TC thread compares The Painkiller unfavourably to a Piña Colada! So there's clearly divergent opinions.

Ha! i started that thread! I actually like the pussers painkiller, and pina colada, i was mainly poking fun at the tiki-fying of non-tiki drinks, fwtw.

I too love keeping Pussers on hand, it is a great blended rum. lately ive been making the Pussers version of a DarkNstormy (the "Ginger SeaDog"), which calls for 2 oz Pussers, 2 dash Angostura, squeeze of lime ,and 6 oz Ginger beer. Ive found that you can mix almost anything with Pussers, Angostura bitters, and lime, and it will turn out great...

(btw, did you ever try out the Pluto's Heart cocktail I created??)

On 2015-08-31 22:48, thePorpoise wrote:

On 2015-08-31 00:37, AdOrAdam wrote:
There is a TC thread TC thread compares The Painkiller unfavourably to a Piña Colada! So there's clearly divergent opinions.

Ha! i started that thread! I actually like the pussers painkiller, and pina colada, i was mainly poking fun at the tiki-fying of non-tiki drinks, fwtw.

Hey Porp,I’m Heading out to my bar asap. Dat SeaDog sounds like a winner.
I plan on shaking everything but the Ginger Beer, pouring it into a dbl old fashion and topping it off with the beer. Maybe garnish with a slice of lime.
Mahalo

On 2015-08-31 23:20, nui 'umi 'umi wrote:

Hey Porp,I’m Heading out to my bar asap. Dat SeaDog sounds like a winner.
I plan on shaking everything but the Ginger Beer, pouring it into a dbl old fashion and topping it off with the beer. Maybe garnish with a slice of lime.
Mahalo

heh- i just mixed one up too! i always make the whole thing stirred on the rocks. come to think of it, that's how i make almost all my drinks (the lazy mixologist). I use DG brand Ginger beer from Jamaica- imo it has best balance of sweetness and burn.

On 2015-08-31 22:48, thePorpoise wrote:
Ha! i started that thread! I actually like the pussers painkiller, and pina colada, i was mainly poking fun at the tiki-fying of non-tiki drinks, fwtw.

I too love keeping Pussers on hand, it is a great blended rum... Ive found that you can mix almost anything with Pussers, Angostura bitters, and lime, and it will turn out great...

(btw, did you ever try out the Pluto's Heart cocktail I created??)

Yeah I thought it had a 'poking fun' subtext & loved how people leapt to the Painkiller's defence.

A while ago on a Black Tot day I had a 1/2 Gill measure of Pussers with sugar, lime & 4 parts water (i.e. a Naval ration) with a little added bitters - very strong, it put me on me my a$$.

Re: Plutos Heart, I'm getting round to it - too many drinks, too little time! :)

Did some experimenting last night. First I made the Rum Forward version and it was very good. The only thing was the amount of the drink was less than a regular painkiller so I added 1/2 oz Malibu and 2 oz OJ instead of just one. Still less than the original 4 oz of pineapple juice but a little closer. Of course you could always just make it 2 oz Pusser and skip the Malibu. So to recap, 1 1/2 oz of Pussers, 1/2 oz Malibu, 1/2 lime, 2 oz OJ, 1 oz pineapple

Also after shaking I put in a small blender to get the nice froth. Topped off with fresh nutmeg of course. Thanks for the ideas.

On 2015-09-01 08:12, Tiki Phil wrote:
Did some experimenting last night. First I made the Rum Forward version and it was very good. The only thing was the amount of the drink was less than a regular painkiller so I added 1/2 oz Malibu and 2 oz OJ instead of just one...

Still less than the original 4 oz of pineapple juice but a little closer. Of course you could always just make it 2 oz Pusser and skip the Malibu. So to recap, 1 1/2 oz of Pussers, 1/2 oz Malibu, 1/2 lime, 2 oz OJ, 1 oz pineapple

Yes I agree with adding a little more rum - first time I made it with 1 1/2 Pussers, tried it & really liked it, added an extra 1/2 of rum & found it too strong... but Malibu? :wink:

I think a differentiating factor of the Painkiller should be the inclusion of orange juice - an emphasis on pineapple makes it Piña Colada esq.

Incidently the best Piña Colada I ever tried was 1-1-1-1-2 (lime, orange, pineapple, coconut cream, rum) - couldn't bring myself to have one in public but did go ask the bartender how they made it (& made it at home).

It did feature in my mind when I was thinking up the 'Rum Forward' Painkiller but slimmed down the lime to be a little sweeter (1 part was too sour) & included less rum (to represent I used the overproof Pussers) :)

Sub out the Pussers for Smith & Cross or Lost Spirits Navy for a more rum forward Painkiller. I use 2 oz rum in the recipe as well. I think this makes it more balanced and gives it a nice kick.

On 2015-09-01 11:59, AdOrAdam wrote:

Incidently the best Piña Colada I ever tried was 1-1-1-1-2 (lime, orange, pineapple, coconut cream, rum) - couldn't bring myself to have one in public but did go ask the bartender how they made it (& made it at home).

imo the original is the best:

2 ounces white rum
1 ounce coconut cream
1 ounce heavy cream
6 ounces fresh pineapple juice
½ cup of crushed ice - See more at: http://www.caribehilton.com/pinacolada/#sthash.zysTh0HN.dpuf

I always use at least 2 oz sometimes 3 of Pussers in the painkiller.

i dont think the OJ makes a huge difference v the pina colada- but dark rum and nutmeg do...