The Original Painkiller —Born at Soggy Dollar
There has only ever been one original. Before the Painkiller appeared on cocktail menus from Miami to Manhattan, it was mixed behind a small wooden bar on a dock-free beach in the British Virgin Islands — where the only way in was to anchor your boat, swim ashore, and pay with the soggy dollars in your pocket.
Where It All Started
The Painkiller was created in the 1970s at the Sandcastle Hotel on White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. Legend credits the hotel's beloved proprietor, George and Marie Myrick, with perfecting the blend: dark rum, cream of coconut, pineapple, and orange juice, crowned with freshly grated nutmeg. Daphne Henderson (second owner) later changed the bar at the hotel to the now famous Soggy Dollar. Plenty of visitors tried to coax the recipe out of her, and plenty of imitations have traveled the world since. But ask anyone who has waded ashore at White Bay with salt water still dripping off them: the original tastes different here. Maybe it's the fresh nutmeg. Maybe it's the view. We've always suspected the secret ingredient isn't the nutmeg at all — it's the people.
The Original Painkiller Recipe
Here's how we build the classic on White Bay. It's not complicated. That's the point.
Ingredients (makes one):
Over ice in a 12oz. glass
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2 oz dark rum (make it a "triple" at your own risk)
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1 oz pineapple juice
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2 oz orange juice
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1 oz cream of coconut
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Freshly grated nutmeg — never pre-ground
Roll the mixture from one glass to another to blend
then drink with your toes in the sand.
(Optional, but strongly recommended.)
Why "Painkiller"?
†As written by George Myrick in his true story; Incredible Virgin Island Adventure.
“By some delightful experimenting Marie and I came up with a very tasty rum drink. Our mix consisted of orange juice, pineapple juice and coconut cream. We added the coconut cream slowly until we said, Wow, this is it! We sloshed it over some measured ounces of rum-Mount Gay or Cruzan Gold- dealer’s choice. Last, but not, ground nutmeg was sprinkled on top. This, we decided, was terrific house drink. Marie (George's wife) named the drink the Painkiller, after a local bush (a noni tree) growing near the Gusset House - known throughout Polynesia as a cure-all plant.
Today, I’m told, you’re hard pressed to find a bar in the Virgin Islands not offering some version of the Painkiller. But it originated in the early seventies at Sandcastle by Marie and George.”
† source: page 129 the “Incredible Virgin Island Adventure” A True Story, by George F. Myrick
Taste the Original
The Painkiller has been poured on White Bay for over fifty years, through hurricanes and rebuilds, and it's still made the same way — one at a time, with fresh nutmeg, at a sunny place for shady people.
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