Shirley Temple

The Shirley Temple is the original mocktail, a vibrant, sweet, and fizzy standby for anyone skipping the booze. It’s a simple build of ginger ale and grenadine, finished with a cherry and a lemon. You’ll pour these for kids, designated drivers, or anyone wanting a splash of color and a sweet treat without the buzz. It’s a classic for a reason, always reliably cheerful and refreshing.

Shirley Temple

3.91 from 11 votes

Calories: 129kcal

Prep Time: 3

Total Time: 3

Ingredients

▢ 20 cl Ginger Ale
▢ 3 cl Grenadine Syrup

Instructions

▢
Build in a highball glass. Add ginger ale over ice and sprinkle Syrup - Grenadine syrup over it. Garnish with a lemon slice and a cherry.

Estimated Nutrition:

Calories: 129kcal (6%)Carbohydrates: 35g (12%)Sugar: 33g (37%)

Mocktail

Where it came from

This drink allegedly came to life in the 1930s at Chasen’s or Romanoff’s restaurant in Los Angeles. The story goes that child star Shirley Temple, tired of being offered adult cocktails while her parents enjoyed them, requested a non-alcoholic drink that looked similar. A bartender obliged with ginger ale, grenadine, and a cherry. It quickly became her signature, and then a global phenomenon.

The Shirley Temple sits firmly in the mocktail camp, a category of non-alcoholic drinks designed to mimic the appearance and complexity of cocktails. Its closest relatives are the Roy Rogers, which swaps ginger ale for cola, and the Arnold Palmer, a mix of iced tea and lemonade. What sets the Shirley Temple apart is the distinctive sweet and subtly spicy kick of ginger ale combined with the deep fruity sweetness of grenadine.

You’ll find a Shirley Temple on menus from dive bars to high-end steakhouses, and it’s a staple at family restaurants and brunch spots. It’s the go-to for anyone who wants a drink that feels special and festive, but without any alcohol. It’s also an easy one to batch and serve at home parties where you need a solid non-alcoholic option.

What it tastes like

From the first sip, the Shirley Temple delivers a hit of sweet, fizzy ginger ale, followed by the rich, fruity notes of pomegranate from the grenadine. The ginger provides a mild, spicy warmth that cuts through the sweetness, keeping it from being cloying. The lemon garnish adds a bright citrus aroma, and the cherry provides an extra pop of sugary fruit on the finish. It's a balanced, refreshing sweet drink.

The Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic drink, meaning its ABV is 0%. This puts it squarely outside the realm of typical alcoholic beverages. To put that in perspective, a standard beer usually clocks in around 5% ABV, and most classic cocktails range from 15% to 25% ABV. So, you can enjoy a few of these without worrying about a buzz.

The technique

Building a Shirley Temple is straightforward. Grab a highball glass and fill it with ice. Pour in your ginger ale, leaving a little room at the top. Next, slowly drizzle the grenadine over the ice or down the side of the glass. The grenadine is denser and will sink, creating that signature gradient. Finish with a lemon slice and a maraschino cherry.

The one technique tip that really matters here is how you add the grenadine. Drizzle it in last, don’t just dump it or stir it in from the start. This allows the grenadine to sink and create a beautiful red layer at the bottom, gradually blending into the ginger ale. If you just mix it all together, you end up with a uniformly pink, less visually appealing soda.

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Ingredient Spotlight

The bottles that make or break this drink.

Grenadine Syrup

Use: Look for grenadine made with real pomegranate juice, not just artificial red dye and corn syrup. Brands like Small Hand Foods or Liber & Co. are excellent. Even a good quality store brand using real juice is better than the cheap stuff.
Skip: Avoid the bright red, overly sweet grenadines that taste like cherry cough syrup. These often lack the tartness and depth needed to balance the drink.
Why: Grenadine is responsible for the Shirley Temple’s iconic rosy color and its signature sweet and subtly tart fruit flavor. It’s what makes the drink distinctive.

Ginger Ale

Use: A good quality, not-too-sweet ginger ale with a noticeable ginger kick. Canada Dry, Schweppes, or Fever-Tree are solid choices. The carbonation should be lively.
Skip: Overly sugary ginger ales or those with very little actual ginger flavor. Also, avoid ginger beer unless you’re specifically making a spicier variation; it can overpower the grenadine.
Why: Ginger ale forms the base of the drink, providing the essential fizz, the primary flavor, and the refreshing, slightly spicy character that complements the grenadine.

Three Variations

Three real ways bartenders riff on this drink. Same idea, three different jackets.

Dirty Shirley

The adult version of a childhood classic.: Add a shot of vodka or light rum to the standard Shirley Temple recipe. It maintains the sweet, fizzy profile but with an alcoholic kick.

Roy Rogers

Cola takes the place of ginger ale.: Swap the ginger ale for Coca-Cola or your preferred cola. You still get the grenadine and cherry, but with a different soda base.

Sparkling Shirley

A brighter, drier take.: Use sparkling water or club soda instead of ginger ale, and add a splash of fresh lemon or lime juice for brightness. It cuts the sweetness significantly.

What if I don't have…

Quick substitutions for when the bottle shop is closed.

No Grenadine Syrup?

Try cranberry juice with a small amount of simple syrup for sweetness, or use cherry syrup.

No Ginger Ale?

A lemon-lime soda like Sprite or 7up works for the fizz and sweetness, or club soda with a splash of ginger syrup.

No Lemon slice?

A lime slice works just as well for garnish, or you can skip the citrus garnish entirely.

No Cherry?

A fresh raspberry or a slice of strawberry can provide a similar red fruit accent.

No Highball glass?

Any tall, straight-sided glass will do the job for serving this drink.

Frequently Asked Questions

Direct answers to what people search for after Googling this drink.

What is in a Shirley Temple?

A Shirley Temple is made with 20 cl of ginger ale and 3 cl of grenadine syrup, typically garnished with a lemon slice and a maraschino cherry.

Is a Shirley Temple alcoholic?

No, a traditional Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic mocktail.

Why is it called a Shirley Temple?

It’s named after the famous child actress Shirley Temple, who reportedly requested a non-alcoholic drink that looked like an adult cocktail.

What’s the difference between a Shirley Temple and a Roy Rogers?

The main difference is the soda base: a Shirley Temple uses ginger ale, while a Roy Rogers uses cola.

Can I make a Shirley Temple less sweet?

Yes, you can reduce the amount of grenadine or use a drier, less sweet ginger ale or even cut the ginger ale with some club soda.

What’s a “Dirty Shirley”?

A “Dirty Shirley” is an adult version of the drink, made by adding a shot of vodka or light rum to the standard Shirley Temple recipe.

Is grenadine alcoholic?

No, grenadine is a non-alcoholic syrup, typically made from pomegranate.

What’s the best ginger ale for a Shirley Temple?

A ginger ale with a good balance of sweetness and a noticeable, but not overpowering, ginger spice works best to complement the grenadine.

From the Drink Lab catalogue

Drink Lab has been collecting cocktail recipes since 2013. Some we wrote ourselves, plenty came in from readers, and the rest got passed across a bar somewhere along the way.

Last updated May 8, 2026 · 1 min read