Roy Rogers
ClassicCola and grenadine. The Shirley Temple's cowboy counterpart.
Cola's caramel and spice deepened by grenadine's pomegranate sweetness — richer and less bright than a Shirley Temple, closer to a cherry cola than a soda-fountain fizz.
Ingredients
- 6 oz Cola
- 0.5 oz Grenadine
- 1 Maraschino Cherry
- Maraschino cherry · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
- 2
Pour in the cola.
- 3
Add the grenadine and stir once, gently.
- 4
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
The Story
Named for the "King of the Cowboys" himself, the Roy Rogers arrived as the boys'-menu answer to the girls'-menu Shirley Temple at mid-century American soda fountains and family restaurants — same grenadine-and-cherry treatment, swapped onto cola instead of ginger ale to feel a little more grown-up. It never had its own single origin story the way the Shirley Temple did, spreading instead simply as "the other kids' drink," and it has stayed exactly that ever since.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
