The Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic drink made with ginger ale, orange juice, and grenadine, named after the child actress. It was created in Beverly Hills and became popular with children. Related drinks include the Roy Rogers and adult versions with alcohol.
A Shirley Temple is a sweet, non-alcoholic drink named after the child actress of the same name. Created in the 1930s, the original blend was two parts ginger ale, one part orange juice, and a small amount of grenadine. It was usually garnished with a cherry — many children’s favorite part of a Shirley temple — and probably an orange wedge. Modern versions of the drink rarely include orange juice, and lemon-lime soda or even grapefruit soda is often substituted for ginger beer, but the cherry has remained an essential part.
Made in California
The drink was created for Shirley Temple by a bartender in Beverly Hills, California. The bartender worked at Chasen’s, a restaurant the young actress frequented. He couldn’t drink alcohol, so the bartender tried to create a drink that would appeal to the young actress’ palate, and Shirley Temple was born.
The goal of this drink is to contrast the sparkle and acidity of the soda base with the sweet grenadine. Too much grenadine makes the drink extremely sweet, so a very small amount should be added. The grenadine also works as a colorant for the drink.
The actress’s popularity during the 1930s and ’40s helped the drink catch on, and many kids would order Shirley temples while dining with their parents. Decades later, kids may be ordering them without understanding the reference. Some companies have attempted to bottle this drink, resulting in the first soft drink that actually contained a cherry. These bottled drinks gradually fell out of popularity, but cherry-flavored versions of other sodas could be considered remnants of those attempts.
Related drinks
Other mixed drinks are related to Shirley temples. One is the Roy Rogers, a soft drink composed of cola and grenadine – essentially a cola cherry. Unlike many mixed drinks created for adults and modified for children, Shirley Temple has been modified for adults by adding alcohol. There are many varieties, such as a Dirty Shirley, also called a Shirley Vomit, which is a combination of lemon-lime soda, vodka, and grenadine. A Shirley Temple-Black – the married name of the actress after 1950 – is made from lemon-lime soda, grenadine and coffee liqueur.
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