The Pornstar Martini is one of the most-ordered modern cocktails in the UK and increasingly internationally. Douglas Ankrah created it in 2002 at LAB (London Academy of Bartending), the London cocktail bar he co-founded. The drink is vanilla vodka, passion fruit purée, lime, and a small amount of sweetener, shaken and served in a coupe alongside a shot glass of chilled prosecco. The drinker sips the cocktail and the prosecco alternately, or pours the prosecco into the coupe.
I called it that because I wanted it to be a drink the kind of person I'd want to date would order.
Douglas Ankrah, attributed in multiple trade-press interviewsTownhouse, LAB, and the Modern London Cocktail
Ankrah is best known as the owner of LAB (London Academy of Bartending), opened in Soho in 1999 — one of the founding venues of London's modern cocktail revival, with an associated bartending school. But the Pornstar Martini itself was created in 2002 at his other bar, Townhouse. The cocktail spread first through London's bar scene, then nationally, then internationally; by the 2010s it was the most-ordered cocktail at chain bars and restaurants across the UK, and a fixture at British hen parties (bachelorette parties) and birthday celebrations. Ankrah died in 2021; the cocktail has continued to grow.
The name — Ankrah's own choice — was deliberately provocative and has remained controversial. Some venues serve it under the alternate name "Passion Star Martini" to avoid the language. The cocktail itself is the same regardless of the menu label.
The Spec
An ounce and a half of vanilla vodka, an ounce of fresh passion fruit purée (or scooped fresh passion fruit pulp), three-quarter ounce of lime juice, half ounce of passion fruit liqueur (Passoa or similar), quarter ounce of vanilla syrup. Shake hard with ice; double-strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with half a passion fruit on the rim. Serve alongside a shot glass of cold prosecco, which the drinker pours into the coupe or drinks separately.
Passion Fruit Pulp vs Purée
Fresh passion fruit pulp (scooped from a halved passion fruit) is the original and best version — the seeds add texture and the fruit's complexity comes through. Frozen passion fruit purée (Boiron, Goya) is the modern bar substitute and works fine. Pre-mixed "passion fruit cocktail mix" from a syrup company is what cheap chain bars use and produces an inferior drink — the cocktail loses its real fruit character and reads as sweet syrup.
Vanilla Vodka, Specifically
Absolut Vanilia, Stoli Vanil, or a homemade vanilla-infused vodka (cheap vodka + a split vanilla bean for three days). Unflavored vodka with a heavier hand on the vanilla syrup is a defensible workaround. The vanilla character is what carries the cocktail's distinctive identity.
The Prosecco Sidecar
A small shot glass (1.5 oz) of well-chilled prosecco served alongside the cocktail. The drinker decides whether to drink them separately or pour the prosecco into the coupe to extend the cocktail. The visual of the cocktail-plus-side-shot is part of the drink's identity; serving the Pornstar Martini without the prosecco is incomplete.
Bottom Line
The Pornstar Martini is one of the few 21st-century cocktails to have entered the broader cocktail vocabulary at scale. Its critics call it overly sweet and brand-driven; its defenders point out that it uses real fresh fruit and has held up across two decades. Made with real passion fruit pulp and real vanilla vodka, it's a legitimately good cocktail; made with a cocktail-mix shortcut, it's a dessert. The provocative name notwithstanding, the cocktail itself deserves more credit than cocktail snobs usually give it.