Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 17.1% ABV ∙
The Pornstar Martini is a modern passion fruit vodka cocktail: vanilla vodka, passion fruit liqueur, and lime shaken and served up with a side shot of sparkling wine. Tart passion fruit and rounded vanilla dominate, cut by fresh lime and lifted by fizzy wine on the side — a fruit-forward drink for celebrations and nights out.
The Pornstar Martini was created in London in 2002 by bartender Douglas Ankrah, owner of the LAB Bar in Soho, at his bar Townhouse. Ankrah said the drink was inspired by a visit to Mavericks Revue Bar, a strip club in Cape Town, South Africa; he later denied the name was "anything sexual," explaining he simply thought it was "something that a porn star would drink." It became hugely popular in Britain and was reported the UK's most ordered cocktail in November 2018. In 2019, retailer Marks & Spencer renamed its version a "passion fruit martini" after complaints. Ankrah died in 2021.
A Pornstar Martini is made with vanilla vodka, passion fruit liqueur, vanilla syrup, and fresh lime juice, shaken with fresh passion fruit pulp. It is served with a separate chilled shot of dry sparkling wine or champagne on the side.
Creator Douglas Ankrah named it because he thought it was something a porn star would drink, and denied the name was meant to be sexual. Despite the name it is not a true martini, just one of many cocktails that borrow the word.
Sip the cocktail and the accompanying shot of sparkling wine however you like. The traditional approach is to alternate: take a mouthful of the fruity martini, then a sip of chilled fizz to cleanse the palate between drinks.
Shaken. The passion fruit pulp, vanilla vodka, liqueur, syrup, and lime are shaken hard with ice and strained into a chilled glass, which chills the drink and breaks up the fruit.
A Pornstar Martini is served up in a chilled cocktail (martini) glass, garnished with half a passion fruit floated on top, alongside a small shot glass of sparkling wine.