Pornstar Martini Recipe

Before you start

The Pornstar Martini is a modern London drink credited to bartender Douglas Ankrah in the early 2000s. It is not a martini in any technical sense. It is a fruity sour built on vanilla vodka, passion fruit in two forms and lime, served in a coupe with half a passion fruit floating on top and a small glass of chilled prosecco on the side.

The drink lives or dies on passion fruit quality. Good puree is intensely tart and perfumed; the liqueur adds sweetness and roundness, and the vanilla bridges the two. Shake it hard so the puree turns frothy, and keep the sparkling wine separate. Guests can sip it between mouthfuls as a palate cleanser or tip it in; both are accepted ways to drink it.

Ingredients

• 45 ml (1½ oz) vanilla vodka — or plain vodka plus extra vanilla syrup
• 15 ml (½ oz) passion fruit liqueur — such as Passoã
• 30 ml (1 oz) passion fruit puree — unsweetened, or the strained pulp of 2 ripe fruits
• 15 ml (½ oz) fresh lime juice
• 15 ml (½ oz) vanilla syrup — 1:1, made with a split vanilla pod or good extract
• ½ ripe passion fruit — cut lengthwise, for the garnish
• 60 ml (2 oz) prosecco — well chilled, served in a shot or small flute
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes — for shaking

Method

1. Chill a coupe and the small prosecco glass in the freezer for 10 minutes. Keep the prosecco in the coldest part of the fridge until the last moment.
2. If you use fresh fruit for the puree, halve 2 wrinkled, heavy passion fruits, scoop the pulp into a fine strainer and press it through with a spoon. Expect about 30 ml of thick juice; discard the seeds.
3. Add the vodka, passion fruit liqueur, puree, lime juice and vanilla syrup to the shaker. Taste a drop: it should be tart up front and finish soft and fragrant.
4. Fill the shaker two-thirds with ice and shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds. Puree is thick, so a longer, more vigorous shake gives the drink a pale, foamy head.
5. Double-strain into the chilled coupe. The fine strainer catches stray seed fragments and ice chips that would spoil the smooth texture.
6. Float the passion fruit half cut-side up on the foam. If it sinks, the drink was strained too thin; it is still fine to drink.
7. Pour the prosecco into its small glass and serve it alongside the cocktail right away.

Tips for success

• Choose passion fruit that are heavy and slightly wrinkled. Smooth, light fruit are underripe and give sharp, thin juice with little aroma.
• Frozen passion fruit puree from the freezer section is very consistent. Thaw it in the fridge and check whether it is sweetened before adding syrup.
• Vanilla vodka brands vary in sweetness. If yours tastes like candy, cut the vanilla syrup to 10 ml.

Substitutions

Vanilla vodka

Use plain vodka and raise the vanilla syrup to 20 ml. The vanilla is gentler and the drink slightly drier.

Passion fruit liqueur

Leave it out and add 10 ml more puree plus 5 ml more syrup. You lose a little body but keep the flavor bright.

Prosecco

Any dry sparkling wine works, including cava or crémant. A non-alcoholic sparkling wine keeps the ritual with less alcohol.

Variations

Pitcher prep for a party

Combine everything except the lime and prosecco up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerate. Add lime and shake to order.

Mango-passion

Swap half the passion fruit puree for mango puree and use 10 ml of vanilla syrup.

Troubleshooting

The drink is cloyingly sweet

Sweetened puree or a sweet vanilla vodka is doubling up the sugar. Drop the vanilla syrup to 7 ml and add 5 ml more lime.

There is no foam on top

Shake longer and harder with fresh, dry ice. Thin, seedless juice foams less than real pulp, so use puree where you can.

Bits of seed in the glass

Press the pulp through a fine strainer before measuring and always double-strain the shaken drink.

Storage

Shake and serve at once; the foam collapses within a few minutes. Homemade vanilla syrup keeps in a sealed jar in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Refrigerate opened puree and use it within 2 to 3 days, or freeze it in ice-cube trays.

Safety notes

The cocktail plus the prosecco side contains roughly 1.5 U.S. standard drinks (one standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). Serve only to adults of legal drinking age, and do not drink and drive.