Taking top honors in our blind tasting of 10 different Painkiller recipes was Matthew Belanger, of Death & Co. Los Angeles. His interpretation of the Painkiller leans on a blend of Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, El Dorado 15-year Guyanese rum and Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum for the base, with only an ounce and a half of pineapple juice (compared to four ounces in the original spec) alongside an ounce of Coco Lopez and three-quarters of an ounce of orange juice. It was among the most rum-forward of the bunch, and the judges unanimously enjoyed the unorthodox garnish of a lavish mint plume alongside the requisite orange wheel and freshly grated nutmeg.
Matthew Belanger’s Painkiller
Matthew Belanger | Los Angeles
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
- 1 ounce Coco Lopez
- 3/4 ounce orange juice
- 3/4 ounce overproof Jamaican rum, preferably Smith & Cross
- 1/2 ounce aged Guyanese rum, preferably El Dorado 15-year
- 1/4 ounce overproof Demerara rum, preferably Lemon Hart 151
Garnish: mint sprig, half orange wheel, grated nutmeg
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin along with 3 Kold-Draft or other 1-inch ice cubes.
- Shake briefly, then strain into a chilled hurricane glass over crushed ice.
- Fill the glass to the top with crushed ice.
- Garnish with a mint sprig, half orange wheel and a thorough dusting of nutmeg.