Shirley Temple Drink

Sparkling cherry and lime flavor swirl this refreshing bubbly beverage that childhood dreams are made of. This Shirley Temple Drink is made with maraschino cherries, splashes of grenadine, fresh-squeezed lime juice, and topped with ginger ale for one nostalgic beverage.

Why You’ll Love this Drink

Every Friday night is Family Fun Night in our house and we usually have pizza and a dessert, but occasionally we’ll also have fun drinks. I especially love to make a theme drink to pair with a movie such as Harry Potter Butterbeer, but also fizzy festive ones like a Shirley Temple.

This is the perfect party drink and is always a crowd favorite with kids and adults. It’s nostalgic and kids love to have something fun to drink too.

Not only does everyone love it, but it’s also super easy to make with only a few ingredients. These ingredients are also easily changeable if you want to add a different flavor or try ginger ale versus 7-Up.

This drink can easily be an adult beverage too if you’d like to add alcohol to it. It’s fun and festive for just about any event.

Ingredients Needed

Ingredient Notes

• Grenadine: this pomegranate-flavored syrup brings a beautiful red color as well as adds a sweet touch. It can be found in most grocery stores.
• Lime Juice: I love to add fresh lime juice to this drink because it gives it a fresher taste and a bit of an extra tangy flavor.
• Soda: You have your choice of soda for this mixture and can use Ginger Ale, Sprite, or 7-Up. My preference is ginger-ale.
• Maraschino Cherries: These are a key fun ingredient and are garnish that makes this drink pretty. You can also add a peel of orange for some additional color.

Recipe Variations

You can change up the ingredients to come up with a slightly different flavor or an entirely different beverage altogether.

• Make it alcoholic: you can turn this childhood beverage into a Dirty Shirley Temple too by adding alcohol. Some delicious options are rum, vodka, or tequila.
• Roy Rogers: by switching the ginger ale or Sprite with Coca-cola you’ll have an entirely new fun beverage with a slightly different taste.
• Change the juice: instead of using grenadine, you can use grape juice or cherry juice, which will change the flavor significantly but also taste great.

I love fizzy drinks like this one as well as this Strawberry Basil Mojito, which can also be made non-alcoholic by swapping the rum for a sparkling beverage.

Which Grenadine to Use

Since there aren’t many ingredients in this recipe I recommend using higher quality ones to get the best flavor. This is also why I like to use freshly squeezed lime juice. This fun grenadine is one of my favorites to use. Usually, you can find this common grenadine brand in most grocery stores though.

Fun Fact: there are conflicting stories are where this cocktail was created and who it was indeed created for. Most think the drink was created for the actress Shirley Temple herself, but she confirmed many years ago that it was Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood. There’s a fun conversation starter over drinks.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Add ice. Fill two tall glasses or high ball glasses with ice (preferably crushed ice).
2. Begin layering ingredients. Divide the grenadine between the two glasses.

3. Pour in the final ingredients. Top with the freshly squeezed lime juice and ginger ale or other preferred soda. Don’t mix the ingredients so the layers stay intact.
4. Garnish. Add the Maraschino cherries for a garnish and for extra color add a lime wedge or orange peel.

Recipe Notes and Tips

• Use crushed ice or ice nuggets instead of cubed ice which will keep the beverage super chilly.
• These drinks are best assembled one at a time to achieve the beautiful ombré layers of each ingredient.
• If making a large batch you can mix all the ingredients together except the ginger ale. Then when ready to serve divide the Shirley Temple mixture between the glasses and then top with the ginger ale or Sprite. Follow the directions for layering though so you can have a beautiful pitcher or punch bowl full just like each glass.
• To make a healthier version of this beverage you can substitute soda for sparkling water.
• Want to make a Dirty Shirley Drink then add some of your favorite alcohol. Great options or rum and vodka.

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