The Virgin Classics
Roy Rogers
The Roy Rogers is the Shirley Temple's darker, cowboy-named sibling: cold cola poured over a full glass of ice, weighted with a half ounce of grenadine and finished with a cherry. Where the Shirley Temple rides a pale, gingery sparkle, the Roy Rogers works in lower registers — cola's caramel, vanilla, and baking-spice notes give the grenadine's tart pomegranate edge something to push against, and the syrup's faint acidity keeps all that sugar from reading as cloying. It's a three-ingredient drink, which means the grenadine does nearly all the talking; the difference between red-dyed corn syrup and true pomegranate syrup is the difference between cherry cola and an actual mocktail.
Order one at a diner counter, a steakhouse bar, or anywhere a burger arrives on a metal tray — it's the rare kids'-menu classic that still holds up as a legitimate zero-proof order for adults, provided real grenadine is in the well. One firm opinion: build it in the glass and stir exactly once. Cola sheds carbonation fast, and a single lazy turn of the bar spoon is enough to lift the grenadine off the bottom without flattening the drink into syrup.
- Prep
- 2 min
- Total
- 2 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
- Calories
- ~145 per serving
Ingredients
- 8 oz (240 ml) cola, well chilled
- 1/2 oz (15 ml) grenadine, preferably real-pomegranate (such as Giffard)
- Ice, to fill the glass
- 1-2 maraschino or cocktail cherries, to garnish
How to make it
- 1
Fill the glass
Fill a Collins or highball glass to the rim with fresh ice. A full glass of ice chills the drink faster and dilutes it slower than a half-hearted scoop.
- 2
Pour the cola
Add the chilled cola, pouring down the inside of the glass to preserve carbonation. Leave about half an inch of headroom.
- 3
Add the grenadine
Drizzle the grenadine over the top and let it sink through the cola to the bottom of the glass.
- 4
Stir and garnish
Give the drink one gentle turn with a bar spoon to lift the syrup off the bottom, then drop in the cherries and serve with a straw.
Bartender’s notes
- Real grenadine is pomegranate syrup, not red dye. Stir equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar until dissolved, add a squeeze of lemon, and refrigerate for up to a month — or reach for Giffard's, which is made with actual pomegranate.
- Hold the ratio near 1/2 oz (15 ml) grenadine per 8 oz (240 ml) cola. The cola already carries plenty of sugar, and heavier pours tip the drink into candy territory.
- Everything should be refrigerator-cold before it touches the glass. Room-temperature cola melts the ice on contact and the drink turns watery within minutes.
- A squeeze from a lime wedge is off-spec but forgivable — it sharpens the pomegranate and trims the sweetness.
Variations
- Grown-up Roy Rogers: add 1 1/2 oz (45 ml) of a zero-proof whiskey alternative — Lyre's American Malt, Ritual Whiskey Alternative, or Free Spirits The Spirit of Bourbon — for an alcohol-free spin on a whiskey and cola.
- Dirty Roy Rogers: borrow the dirty-soda playbook and add 1/2 oz (15 ml) coconut syrup and a squeeze of lime alongside the grenadine, with a splash of half-and-half if you want it creamy.
- Cherry-vanilla: add 1/4 oz (7 ml) vanilla syrup and a bar spoon of syrup from the cherry jar for a soda-fountain cherry-vanilla cola.
Bottles that make it better
Non-alcoholic brands from our directory that fit this build — each page lists where to find them near you.
Giffard
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Giffard is a family-owned French liqueur and syrup house founded in 1885 in the Loire Valley, now in its fifth generation of family ownership. Its non-alcoholic Aperitif Bitter syrup is a widely-used substitute for Campari in zero-proof Negronis and Spritzes, built on bitter orange, gentian root, quinquina, and spice. Giffard also produces a Spritz Alcohol Free expression. The non-alcoholic range is positioned as a cocktail-mixer rather than a bottled spirit.
Where to find Giffard →Lyre's
0.5% ABV or less (individual spirits test under 0.3%–0.4% ABV)
Award-winning NA range that mirrors classics: American Malt (whiskey), Italian Orange (Aperol), Dry London Spirit (gin). The widest classic-cocktail toolkit on the market.
Where to find Lyre's →Ritual Zero Proof
0.5% ABV or less
Chicago-based, restaurant-favorite NA spirit line. Their Tequila and Whiskey alternatives are built to disappear into Margaritas and Old Fashioneds.
Where to find Ritual Zero Proof →Free Spirits
Less than 0.5% ABV (approx. 0.2%)
Distilled non-alcoholic spirits with added B-vitamins and amino acids. Spirit of Tequila and Spirit of Gin are the workhorses of the lineup.
Where to find Free Spirits →Rather have it made for you?
Hundreds of verified bars and restaurants across the U.S. build serious zero-proof drinks like this one.
Frequently asked
The base soda. A Shirley Temple is built on ginger ale (or sometimes lemon-lime soda), while a Roy Rogers uses cola; both get grenadine and a cherry. The Shirley Temple was named for the 1930s child star and the Roy Rogers for the singing-cowboy actor, and the cola version drinks noticeably richer and less bright.