Brian Flanagan

I have a theory about the Painkiller.

Given the limitations of the Soggy Dollar's island location in the 1970s, I am certain this drink was developed with standard bar ingredients of the time, including canned pineapple and orange juice.

Fresh juice is too sweet and lacks thrust. You need the acidic bite of the canned juice in order to cut through the sweet coconut. The acid is the tip of the marlin spike, to use a naval metaphor.

Try it both ways, I think you'll agree.

So I've made this with fresh juices, and I've made it with store-bought juices. IMO, the store bought was a superior drink. No idea if the story behind your theory is true, but you're definitely onto something.

Very good rum/tiki drink. Although I am a rum drinker did find it a tad sweet. A 1/4 oz 151 float did the trick. I would definitely have this again.

The 151 floater was a fantastic idea. I've always been underwhelmed by Painkillers. Adding that little splash of Lemon Hart 151 made an incredible difference - really elevates the drink.

I'm noticing that many Corn N Oil recipes elsewhere include lime juice as an ingredient - generally an amount equal to the Falernum.

I even found one recipe, claiming to be the more authentic version used in Barbados, that swapped the Falernum and Rum ratios - 1.5 oz Falernum, .5 oz Rum. Interestingly, the picture looked spot-on for the drink's namesake - clear on the bottom, and "oily" on top. Also called for the juice of two lime wedges on top.

Thoughts?

Tremendous cocktail! The orange curacao can easily come to the front of this one, so be cautious with the proportions there. Made properly though, this is a fantastically delicious cocktail, and I loved that the flavor profile stands out as unique from a lot of the other classic cocktails that are seeing a resurgence today - in a world of Old Fashioneds, Paper Planes, Negronis, Last Words and the like, I feel like this one slips into a really nice void. Can't wait to make it for friends.

Fantastically balanced cocktail, with the absinthe adding a nice complexity. I had to go quite a bit heavier on the Orange Marmalade to get what I would consider a balanced taste though. As is my custom when trying a new recipe, I made a double and drank the first glass exactly as-is. It was very good, but thought it tasted a bit rough around the edges - so I added an additional serving of orange marmalade to the remainder. That balanced it nicely.