If you are like me, when you think of special occasion meals growing up, there’s often a Shirley Temple involved. A delightful drink made with ginger ale (preferred) or lemon-lime soda, grenadine and topped with maraschino cherries named for the famous childhood star of the 1930s. Just seeing that brightly colored drink brings back memories.
We had the great pleasure of spending time with my extended family at Skytop Lodge in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains recently. Much to the surprise of the adults in our group, their cocktail menu included a Dirty Shirley. One simple change to the original – the addition of vodka.
One day my sister-in-law, Annie T, and I decided to share one at lunch. It was much more to Annie’s liking than mine as she’s a bigger fan of this kind of sweetness. She described it as a good cherry coffee syrup (a positive review) and Ed described it as a cherry Jolly Rancher in a drink (not a positive review) – I was with Ed.
Back home we saw a Dirty Shirley on a local bar’s menu. Clearly we have been living under a rock. The New York Times wrote Is the Dirty Shirley the Drink of the Summer? in May of this year. Since it’s still the same summer so I suppose we aren’t too far behind.
Since the Dirty Shirley I had tried was too cloying sweet for me, I decided to adapt it at home. Did you know that real grenadine is actually made from pomegranate juice? I learned this years ago but prior to that I had assumed it was made from cherries. The grenadine we’re most familiar with is Rose’s Grenadine which contains no natural ingredients. It is very easy to make homemade grenadine – pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice – so I used that in this cocktail. Given that I was changing the grenadine profile, I also opted to use Luxardo Maraschino Cherries in place of the brightly colored red cherries that we’ve known since we were little ones. I also used premium ginger ale (such as Fever-Tree or Q) but you could use a lemon-lime soda such as Sprite. The final libation was more to my liking – still reminiscent of my childhood but with a nice adult twist (and not quite as bright).
While I’m recommending some changes in this recipe, if you love the taste of a traditional Shirley Temple, please proceed with using Rose’s Grenadine (or another bottled grenadine) and maraschino cherries that match, in the same quantities.
You may also see a Dirty Shirley listed as a Shirley Temple Black on a menu. Since ‘Black’ was Shirley’s married name this is an appropriate way of describing the adult version of this classic non-alcoholic drink.
Our two nieces and three nephews who were with us at Skytop enjoyed many traditional Shirley Temples. There were many brightly colored drinks at their end of the table each night. It’s wonderful to see that some things remain constant.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Note: Use a gluten-free/wheat-free vodka such as Tito’s or Stateside (distilled in Philadephia!).
| Dirty Shirley | Print |
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1 to 1-1/2 ounces grenadine (see Notes)
- 6 to 8 ounces ginger ale or lemon-lime soda (see Notes)
- Garnish: 2 maraschino cherries (see Notes)
- Fill a tall glass or stemless wine glass with ice.
- Add vodka, 1 ounce of grenadine, soda, and stir. Taste and add additional grenadine if needed.
- If it’s too sweet, add a squeeze of lemon juice to cut the sweetness
- Garnish with 2 maraschino cherries.
* I recommend premium soda such as Fever-Tree or Q for this cocktail.
* Luxardo Maraschino Cherries are preferred over traditional brightly colored maraschino cherries.
And you can always trade the cherries for calamari!
Dad – Ha! Well said. Who would have thought this?