Second place in our blind tasting of 10 different Painkiller recipes went to Jelani Johnson, assistant distiller at Great Jones Distilling Co. The judges quickly picked up an additional source of acid, in this case lemon juice, and found the rum to shine through thanks to four different expressions, led by Coruba Jamaican rum alongside Plantation O.F.T.D., El Dorado 12-year and a teaspoon of Rum Fire. The judges thought the nutmeg was particularly well integrated thanks to Johnson’s decision to shake the drink with grated nutmeg, rather than simply dusting it atop the finished drink. Johnson’s was also the only drink served on Kold-Draft ice cubes rather than with pebble ice, making it read more like a traditional cocktail than a colada. As McGee observed, “It tastes like a Painkiller you would get at a cocktail bar.”
Jelani Johnson’s Painkiller
Jelani Johnson | New York City
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- 1 ounce Coco Lopez
- 1 ounce orange juice
- 1 ounce aged Jamaican rum, preferably Coruba
- 1/2 ounce overproof rum, preferably Plantation O.F.T.D.
- 1/2 ounce aged Guyanese rum, preferably El Dorado 12-year
- 1/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Rum Fire overproof white rum
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Directions
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with 3 ice cubes.
- Pour into a tin cup, and fill with fresh ice cubes.