Of Shirley Temples And Other Delights
The Shirley Temple at Manhatta. Photo by me.
The hot cocktail of the moment is, so I’ve been told, the Dirty Shirley — the classic Shirley Temple with vodka added. Not particularly creative, and not new, either. I remember seeing it years ago on drink menus under the name “Shirley Temple Black” (the child film star’s married name), and I made what I called a “Debauched Shirley Temple” back in my college days, which is longer ago than I care to think about. That being said, the Dirty Shirley has garnered mention in the august New York Times, and you can even buy a canned version of it, so it must be pretty hip.
But I’m here to talk about, um, the OG Dirty Shirley I suppose? That’s right, the classic Shirley Temple. I’d say it’s my daughter’s go-to cocktail, but since she’s very picky about her Shirleys, she sticks with Coca-Cola at most of the places we go to. What floats her boat, Shirley-wise? I haven’t been able to figure it out. She loves mine, which is generally made with bright red, supermarket-bought grenadine, SodaStream lemon-lime soda, and zero cherries — she’s probably the only kid I know who doesn’t use the Shirley Temple as a maraschino cherry delivery system. She loves the ST at Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle, which as far as I can tell is pretty similar, except they likely use ginger ale instead of lemon-lime. The result is a more elegant drink, in my opinion.
And add to the short list of her favorite Shirley Temples that at Manhatta, the fabulous bar-with-a-view in Manhattan’s Financial District, back in action after a long pandemic-induced lull. They use newfangled hipster grenadine, a maroonish color, with a less cloyingly sweet, more fruit-forward flavor, and Luxardo cherries (or the non-alcoholic equivalent thereof, I’d guess). Not really my daughter’s style. But she adored it. Between the drink and her steak, she enjoyed it so much that she said she’d go back voluntarily — also a rarity.
Most of the latest What’s Tony Drinking, courtesy of the good folks at Alcohol Professor (link is right… over… -> HERE <-), is about boozier subjects. In fact, it’s almost entirely devoted to insanely rare spirits that I had the good fortune to sample over the last few weeks. But I wanted to focus here on the Shirley Temple, in the hopes that there’ll be a groundswell of demand for us to trawl the watering holes of NYC in search of the city’s best non-dirty Shirley. Let’s make it happen! The only thing holding me back is a reluctant daughter — let’s convince her to go for the gusto (and earn a byline besides)! That’s what the Comments section is for!