Shirley Temple – Simple Kiddie Cocktail
A Shirley Temple drink is the perfect kiddie cocktail for a special occasion or holiday. It’s so easy to make and the drink requires just two ingredients!
I remember when I was a kid that my friends and I would order this cocktail from the bar every time we were at a wedding. Drinking Shirley Temples made us feel so grown up and sophisticated!
My parents never thought of making this at home, but it is truly so easy that there’s no good reason not to!
Ingredients
The drink requires just two ingredients:
- grenadine (I make homemade grenadine made from pomegranate juice and sugar, but store-bought grenadine like Rose’s [paid link] is the classic choice. In a pinch, you can use the liquid from the maraschino cherry jar as the grenadine; it’s a close substitute, but it is a little less thick and potent so you may need more of it.)
- lemon-lime soda (like Sprite or 7-Up) or ginger ale
How It’s Made
To make the cocktail, fill a glass with ice. Pour in soda until the glass is 90 percent full and then top it off with grenadine. You can adjust the proportions – more grenadine to make it sweeter or less to reduce the sweetness.
To get the full grown-up experience, be sure to garnish the cocktail with a maraschino cherry.
You can also rim the glass with colored sugar or Pixy Stix! To do that:
- Pour the colored sugar or contents of pixy stix into a bowl the width of the rim of your glass.
- Invert the glass and dip its rim into a bowl of cold water.
- Keep the glass inverted and place into the bowl with colored sugar. The sugar will stick to the wet rim!
Expert Tips and FAQs
Serving a Crowd
To make Shirley Temples for a crowd, you can fill a punch bowl with ice and lemon-lime soda and then add grenadine. Stir well and taste as you go until you are happy with the proportions.
Float lots of maraschino cherries in the punch bowl!
A Roy Rogers is nearly the same as a Shirley Temple but it uses cola instead of lemon-lime soda or ginger ale.
If you are an adult and have always loved Shirley Temples, try adding some alcohol to the drink. A Shirley Temple with booze is called a Dirty Shirley.
A Dirty Shirley is typically made by adding vodka and ginger beer to the drink. Try using Luxardo cherries instead of regular maraschino cherries for this version.
Related Recipes
Shirley Temple
Ingredients
- 9 ounces lemon-lime soda
- 1 ounce grenadine
- 1 maraschino cherry optional
Instructions
- Fill glass with ice cubes.
- Pour in soda.
- Top with grenadine.
- Stir and optionally garnish with a maraschino cherry.
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