The Pornstar Martini in just six ingredients! 

What is a Pornstar Martini?

A cocktail made with Vodka, Vanilla, Passion Fruit, Prosecco, and a touch of Pineapple Juice to help give a fresh and frothy finish. Everybody knows it, everybody loves it.

While it’s not a true martini, the Pornstar Martini is regularly reported to be the most popular cocktail in the United Kingdom.

 

On at least 80% of our events, this drink has featured on the menu and has been received well. It has been an absolute STAPLE of cocktail choices with our customers for the last three years, of that I’m sure.  That’s why it’s an indispensable item on our Drinks Menus.

 

The Pornstar Martini is such a popular drink that it is almost impossible to go to a bar nowadays and not see it on a drinks menu, and if it wasn’t on the drinks menu you could ask the bartender to make you one and they would know how!  You will see an abundance of these cocktails (and of course the empty glasses) packing out the tables throughout bars all over the country. At least one company even have Pornstar Martini Trees.  (This is where you can buy several Pornstar Martinis and have them presented in three dimensional trays – just like a tree, they be quite eye catching!

The History of the Pornstar Martini. 

 

This cocktail was initially named the “Maverick Martini” and was originally created by a gentleman called Douglas Ankrah. Douglas was a bartender and the owner of a bar called “LAB” back in 1999 in London’s Soho district.  “LAB” was a cocktail bar where Douglas developed and became renowned for his entire style of bartending, where he would wear a full three-piece suit to make cocktails in.  His objective was to introduce guests to new and interesting flavours that they might not be familiar with, to take them on a journey of taste and sensation.

 

The goal of the Pornstar Martini was not actually to be of a pornographic nature. It was just a provocative way to be playful with guests, get them to be much more engaged with having fun at taking on a role while ordering or enjoying the drink. It was nothing sexual; Douglas does state that when he was naming the drink that it never has been about sexual nature; it was just something fun and evocative that he envisioned they would like to drink.

 

The Pornstar Martini Recipe 

 

1- 30ml Vodka

 

2- 15ml Passion Fruit Liqueur

 

3- 25ml Passion Fruit Puree

 

4- 25ml Pineapple Juice

 

5- 5ml Vanilla Extract (the small bottles you find in the baking section at any supermarket.)

 

6 – A Sidecar of Prosecco

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPSWXlIHHlI

There are many inventive variations of the Pornstar Martini but at our Mobile Bar Hire company, all our Bartenders will say the same thing – simplest is best.  When you type “Pornstar Martini” into Google and search for a recipe, the simplest one with the fewest ingredients is almost ALWAYS the correct one. The simplest one is the recipe that all bartenders start with before they put their own twist on it.

Sometimes people will put their own twist on a recipe that’s already had a twist put on it twice before. Before you know it you have a 4th generation changed up cocktail recipe, possibly with clashing flavours and complex ingredients going into it.  If it’s unsuccessful you might well be scared away from making this fantastic drink for yourself because you think, incorrectly by the way, that it’s too difficult and complex for you to make well.

 

So, my advice to anyone reading this blog is to always look for the simplest cocktail recipes.  You will almost always find that it’s pretty good as it is, but should you wish to investigate and try different things, you can have a lot of fun recreating and experimenting with it at home.

 

Should I Use Vanilla Vodka in a Pornstar Martini?

 

We get asked about this on quite a lot.  Sometimes a bartender might suggest that a customer buys Vanilla Vodka for their Pornstar Martinis at their events.  After all, if you saw Vanilla Vodka on the shopping list for your get-together or party, you’d buy it without question, wouldn’t you? You want everything to be right for your guests and after all; the professionals have told you that’s what you need.

 

You have to ask yourself a question though – what else can you use Vanilla Vodka for or with?

Often, when we revisit a location for a second booking; or arrive somewhere that’s previously had a cocktail and bartender service where Pornstar Martini was on the drinks menu, they quite often present us with a bottle of Vanilla Vodka that was left over from the last event and they ask what we can do with it, or if we can make anything with it to use it all up.

 

So here at Cocktailhire Event Bartenders, we brought about a change by providing you with a relevant shopping list, avoiding unnecessary wastage and cost, and to provide a product that should you have left over at the end of your event, you can easily use.

 

Douglas created his own simple Vanilla Syrup and despite recommending a few vanilla vodka options, the reason behind it all was ease and efficiency. He always remained a user of his own homemade Vanilla Syrup.

 

As experienced cocktail bartenders, we always recommend buying a normal “off the shelf” vodka; be it Smirnoff, Stolichnaya or Absolut, whatever plain vodka you like – brand really doesn’t matter.

 

We add just a drop of vanilla extract to the drink, (you know, the small bottles you find in a baking section of a supermarket).  What this means for us, is that the only open bottles that remain at the end of an event are just Vodka.  For the customer (hopefully you) it’s just vodka, which we’re sure you’ll be happy to have in your cupboard or liqueur cabinet and you’ll know what you can do with it. Less wastage and less cost.

 

How to Prepare a Pornstar Martini in Bulk: 

 

While many people might want you to think that it’s complicated – it really is quite simple. Here’s how to be a cocktail bartender superstar!

 

Combine all the non-alcoholic ingredients together, along with the passion fruit liqueur, in one bottle. Keep the vodka in its own bottle for the time being.

 

Clients, guests, customers, whoever you have in front of you always like to see the alcoholic element poured separately. Whether they say it out loud or not, it is still in their mind. Questions such as “How strong is this” or “Hang on, he’s pulling my leg here” will often be at the forefront of someone’s mind.  Also, if you pour a pre-made bottle there is no sense of drama or anticipation.

 

So, we always keep the vodka element separate, clients can see what they want to see – which is alcohol being added to their drink. Then, when it comes to time to serve, pour the vodka into a glass, and then pour in the non-alcoholic ingredients making sure that all the ingredients mix well.

 

But for the ultimate in speed and efficiency, a good event company, mobile bar hire company, or any bartender for hire might pre-make the drinks to make the fastest drink possible, in the cleanest way possible.

 

So, if you are looking for the same speed and efficiency then pour the Passion Fruit Puree, the Passion Fruit Liqueur, the Pineapple Juice and the Vanilla Extract all into one bottle. Then pour one measure of vodka to two measures of your pre-prepared mixture into a shaker. Shake it up and pour it into a glass – simple!

 

Prosecco in a Pornstar Martini?

 

Another question that we get a lot of the time too is are you supposed to drink the “shot” of prosecco, or pour it into the cocktail?

 

The answer is simply, “it’s up to you”! Its original purpose was to get people out of their comfort zones, by quickly sinking a shot and then moving onto a drink to enjoy slower. But it really does not matter. It’s whatever helps you enjoy the drink more.

 

For us as a Mobile Bar Hire Company, we pour a shot of prosecco into the top of the drink after shaking it and straining into a glass. This was never our original desire and we have the popularity of “jagerbombs” to thank for that!  If you think about it, dropping a shot glass into another delicate (a Coupette Glass in our case) glass can lead to damage and breakages.  This is not the desired effect a bartender wants.  It makes the task of cleaning more difficult than it needs to be, can increase costs incurred by glass replacement and adds extra difficulty in making drinks on a mobile bar where pieces of broken glass may be.

 

So, to keep things clean and simple we took to pouring the prosecco for our guests and remove the potential problem completely.

 

We’ve made a video on how to make a Pornstar Martini, so definitely check that out and watch how we make this fantastic drink.

 

Thanks guys, ‘til next time.

Author

Stu Hoyland, Director – Cocktailhire

About Stu 

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