The Shirley Temple and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

have been to Hawaii several times in my life, but the only time I went to Oahu was on my honeymoon 40 years ago. I had wanted to stay at the Royal Hawaiian hotel, but for reasons out of my control, we ended up staying at the Sheraton next door.

The Royal Hawaiian (also known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific and, alternatively, the Pink Lady) is an unusual structure for Hawaii. Opened in 1927, the Spanish-style architecture is not what you would expect for a beachfront Hawaiian hotel. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, and it quickly became the place to be. The six-story building sports 400 rooms and cost over $4 million to construct. It was the first place to ever to be called"The Western Whitehouse" as FDR conducted a bit of presidential business inside it's walls. The architecture, a mix of Spanish and Moorish design, was said to have been influenced by the Arabian movies of Rudolph Valentino. Pink was kind of in at the time, so I imagine that the decision to paint the place pink was a no-brainer.

But the thing that I find most fascinating about the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is it's claim to be the birthplace of the Shirley Temple. Now, everyone should be familiar with the Shirley Temple, which is basically just ginger ale mixed with some grenadine. Nothing really special, kids get it all the time. But the drink back then must have been radically different than what we serve now. First thing, in our current high-fructose syrup society, most bars and restaurants do not serve actual ginger ale; instead, what you get is a mix of cola and something like Sprite or 7-UP.  And don't even get me started on what passes for grenadine these days.

Grenadine was originally prepared from pomegranate juice or a similar source. The most popular brand of grenadine is a corn syrup nightmare called Rose's, which I wouldn't feed to hungry ants.

So, to imagine Shirley Temple as she was prepared at the Pink Lady, you would have to concoct something totally different. If you wanted to approximate it you would need to do some searching for the right kind of ingredients. First place to start would be the Ginger Ale.  My research indicates that the closest thing you will find to real ginger ale is Vernor's, which is made and bottled by Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. and is produced close to the recipe originated by James Vernor, a mix of 17 ingredients including ginger and vanilla. I have had it, and it is good; however, I have heard that something better might be Fever Tree Ginger Ale. I have not tried it, but it has been highly recommended to me.

For the grenadine, try making your own. It's pretty easy (I say this, having never done it, but it sounds easy). Grenadine can be created by simmering pomegranate juice for 15 minutes on the stove, then adding superfine sugar. Assuming you are like me you will probably resort to looking on Amazon. The most promising commercially made grenadine is Liquid Alchemist Grenadine Syrup for Cocktails.

I guess the easy thing to say is "Why bother". I mean, this is a drink for kids right? I firmly believe that children need to be taught to expect higher quality at an early age. I mean, maybe the decline of the Shirley Temple had something to do with the decline of the tropical drink. As things got sweeter and sweeter, people just started taking all kinds of liberties with their drinks. If you accept some combination of cola and Sprite mixed with a sickeningly sweet red syrup as a Shirley Temple, then it should come as no surprise to you when the Mai Tai you ordered ends up being Hawaiian Punch mixed with Bacardi (I've seen this, I know it happens).

It is worth, at least once, to mix up a proper Shirley Temple and whisk yourself back to the days of the Royal Hawaiian. I can feel the ocean breezes now.