A sip of sunshine.....

No, this post is not about one of Lawson's well known IPA, Sip of Sunshine. It is about being transported to the Caribbean with a taste of the iconic Soggy Dollar, "Pain Killer. "

I am so fortunate to be spending a week on St. John. It is without a doubt my favorite warm destination place. We have been here a handful of times and each time we come back it feels like home. One of our favorite things to do when we come here is to travel to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands to visit the Soggy Dollar Bar for their iconic Pain Killers. Just a sip of one of this cocktail can bring me back to sunshine, sand and the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. We weren't able to go there 2 years ago when we were in St. John because of Covid restrictions. That made yesterday's trip to the Soggy Dollar even more exciting!

The Pain Killer was said to have been created in the 1970's at the Soggy Dollar Bar on White Bay in Jost Van Dyke by either Daphne Henderson or George and Marie Myrick previous owners of the bar. It was originally made with 2-4 parts of Cruzan Rum, 4 parts of pineapple juice, 1 part of orange juice and 1 part cream of coconut shaken well and garnished with fresh grated nutmeg. In 1989 Pusser's Rum filed a trademark on the Pain Killer's name and recipe. In 2011 when a bar in the Lower East Side of NY opened as Pain Killer, Pusser's filed a cease and desist order to the owners of the bar for the name and making the cocktail with a rum other than Pusser's. An out of court settlement was reached but many NY bartenders boycotted Pusser's Rum.

The Soggy Dollar Bar and most of the bars in the British Virgin Islands and the Virgin Islands still serve the Pain Killer. They even sell a frozen version at Longboard in Cruz Bay. I think that was the favorite Pain Killer of the week!

We have been making our own Pain Killer's while we are here, but when we ran out of pineapple juice the other day I had to pinch hit. I decided to substitute the Pineapple Juice with 2 oz lime aid and 2 oz of coconut water and a squeeze of fresh lime. I am calling it, Stress Relief. It is all Lime and Coconut and quite refreshing but the nutmeg makes you think of a Pain Killer!

Stress Relief

2 oz Aged Rum

2 oz limeade

2 oz coconut water

1 oz orange juice

2 tbsp coco Lopez

Nutmeg

Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake until frothy and cold. Strain into a glass with ice and sprinkle with nutmeg. Enjoy this sip of sunshine!