The Porn Star Martini Is the Main Character Again
Ever heard of a Porn Star Martini? You may be picturing a sickly sweet, gimmicky cocktail that you would flip past on the 12th page of a chain restaurant’s drinks menu. Let me stop you right there, because that’s not the case for this tart yet smooth passion-fruit beverage. There’s more to it than its flashy name. (Plus, it has more than one moniker; whether you call it the Porn Star Martini, the Passion Star Martini, or the Maverick Martini, it tastes just as delicious.) There’s lore galore behind the creation.
Some say the cocktail was invented based on what dancers at a gentlemen’s club smelled like—vanilla, sugar, and bubbles. That suggestion has some credence since Douglas Ankrah, the originator of the cocktail, was a regular at a club at the time named Mavericks and originally dubbed his drink the Maverick Martini. Ankrah, though, insisted that there was nothing sexual about the drink and that the name was meant only to be evocative and confident. When he created the cocktail in 2002, he imagined it to be a drink that porn stars would order.
Although I can’t speak to the cocktail preferences of adult-entertainment stars, I did find the Porn Star Martini to deliver on the fun and playful aspects that Ankrah had hoped for. The name of this cocktail is just as brash and bold as the flavors within it. The Porn Star Martini features passion-fruit liqueur, vanilla vodka, and a prosecco chaser. When the drink was popularized in Ankrah’s London bar Townhouse, where it appeared renamed as the Porn Star Martini, tastes leaned more synthetic and sugary. But these days it’s reappearing on craft-cocktail menus with more than a few upgrades.
Throw It Back
You can catch the cocktail being tricked out at hot spots like Dante Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, where the menu boasts the Pornstar 2.0, which turns the drink into a milk punch. Bartender Renato Tonelli wanted his version to have “the creaminess of a milk punch that would add a silky, buttery texture to the drink that would pair well with Champagne.” He also made sure to emphasize that the fresh passion-fruit puree cuts down on the sweetness of the drink. Out in Chicago, the Porn Star Martini appears on the rotating menu of the beloved craft-cocktail institution Violet Hour. Bartender Britt Bogdan decided to combine Scotch, rum, and Chinola passion-fruit liqueur in her rendition of the cocktail, dubbed Wait, I’m a Star. “It’s a doozy and a half,” Bogdan says. “But it doesn’t drink like it. It drinks really easy, fruity and juicy.” Have two if you dare. As for the sidecar of Champagne, bartenders are split on how people should enjoy it. Some suggest shooting it after you finish your martini, and others suggest steadily topping your drink with it as you go. So the right way to enjoy is whatever way tickles your fancy.
Let your inhibitions go and dive straight into the Porn Star Martini renaissance. It’s no longer a cocktail you have to whisper-order at a trashy dive. Now it’s sitting pretty with top-shelf booze on the front page of your favorite cocktail bar’s menu. And it’s not too complicated to re-create, so you can bring it home with you if you’re really taken with it. Here’s how to mix up some of our favorite new iterations of the iconic drink from three bars across the country.
Pornstar 2.0
(Dante Beverly Hills, by Renato Tonelli)
Ingredients:
500ml Haku vodka
160ml Ten to One white rum
100ml Dolin Blanc vermouth
500ml vanilla syrup
350ml passion-fruit pulp
100ml guava puree
200ml lime juice
20ml citric acid
400ml whole milk
Directions:
Pour all ingredients together into a container. After one day, strain with a fine filter into a bottle. This makes a batch. Pour out your intended amount into a martini glass. Serve with a sidecar of Champagne.
Wait, I’m a Star
(The Violet Hour, by Britt Bogdan)
Ingredients:
1.5oz Famous Grouse blended Scotch
0.5oz Cocchi Rosa
0.25oz Suze Strap (equal parts Suze and blackstrap rum)
0.25oz Chinola
0.25oz Licor 43
1/8 lime wedge, squeezed and stirred with the cocktail
2oz cava
Directions:
Add all ingredients, except the cava, to a mixing glass and give it a short stir over ice. Add the cava to the mixing glass before pouring the cocktail neat into your vessel of choice. Garnish with a flamed lime knot.
French Pornstar
(Reyna New York, by Nicki Laborie)
Ingredients:
2oz vodka
1oz passion-fruit liqueur
0.5oz house-made passion-fruit syrup
0.5oz house-made vanilla syrup
1oz lemon juice
Directions:
Shake all ingredients and fine-strain into a coupe. Pour a shot of Champagne on the side and garnish with a demitasse spoon of passion-fruit pearls.
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