The Best 5 Cocktails to Craft with Ginger Ale

Ginger ale is a real pip. Perhaps one of the most humble soda flavors, recalling turn-of-the-century pop counters and bubbly drinks flavored with sarsaparilla. Still, it’s fresh, slightly spicy, aromatic base makes it a go-to drink choice for many soda sippers. It’s a nostalgic favorite for many who enjoyed ginger ale in childhood, whether as a folk remedy for illness or a perfect accompaniment to a diagonally-cut peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But did you know that ginger ale has an adult side? Yes, it isn’t just for the kiddos anymore. In fact, ginger ale might just be the key in crafting our next cocktail.

The benefits of ginger ale as a cocktail ingredient are obvious. It has a sweet yet complex, herbaceous, and spicy taste. It goes well with citrus flavors as well as maple and vanilla notes, and it can work with almost any liquor base. To display just a few of its cocktail possibilities, we’ve gathered five of the most stand out ginger ale-based drinks for your to try. However, these are just a few. With a bit of creativity and a willingness to experiment, you might just dream up your own original ginger ale cocktail. 

Let’s start off with a controversial pick: the Shirley Temple. Okay, it isn’t exactly sophisticated. Perhaps the original mocktail, the drink combines ginger ale (yes, ginger ale, not Sprite) with maraschino cherries and grenadine, a pomegranate-flavored syrup. It’s a go-to bar-top pick for kids and kids at heart. But have you heard of the Shirley Temple’s more grown-up counterpart, the Dirty Shirley? It’s almost identical to a regular Shirley Temple, except it also includes vodka (or gin) in its base (you can also add prosecco if you want something more bubbly). The Dirty Shirley is sweet, refreshing, and unapologetically fruity. 

Now, many recipes for the Dirty Shirley call for Sprite or another lemon lime soda. However, if you want the real deal, ginger ale is the only way to go. Not only is it more accurate to the original, non-alcoholic drink, but it also adds depth to what might be, if made incorrectly, a cloyingly sweet drink. Ginger ale adds an herbaceous twist to the cocktail, setting off the deep flavors of your pomegranate syrup and smoothing out its alcoholic base. 

It’s refreshing, fruity, and quintessentially Southern. Pimm’s Cup is just one of those cocktails, with a reputation as heavy as the dappled shade of wrote iron cast over the streets of New Orleans. The cocktail is a bar-top classic, consisting of lemon juice, ginger ale, a garnish of mint, strawberry, cucumber, and a base of Pimm’s No. 1 that gives the drink an herbal, shine. While it’s incredibly popular in the American South, it was originally invented in England in the 1800s. 

The drink showcased Pimm’s No. 1, a digestif that has a base of gin with added herbs. Combined with refreshing lemon and the slightly spicy ginger ale, a Pimm’s Cup is both sweet and complex and, when combined with the added fruit, mint, and cucumber garnish, undeniably refreshing. This drink is perfect for sipping on a hot Southern summer day and pairs well with a television tuned into Wimbledon, where the drink is also a favorite. For added authenticity, serve it with fresh strawberries and cream 

The Moscow mule is perhaps the most iconic of all ginger-based cocktails. Its signature copper cup holds in it a delicious mixture of vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer or ginger ale. Many Moscow mule purists insist on the use of ginger beer, a non-alcoholic carbonated drink with a more intense ginger taste. The stronger, spicier flavor is why some prefer it in a mule. However, ginger ale also works beautifully in the drink, especially if you prefer your drink with less of a kick.

You can also use ginger ale as the base for a famous Moscow mule spin-off, the Mezcal mule. It’s similar to its Russian counterpart except instead of vodka, Mezcal is used as the alcohol base. The taste of ginger plays well with the deep and smoky taste of the alcohol, brightening its flavor and adding spice to the sometimes challenging liquor. 

Perhaps the most uncommon drink on this list, the Paisley spritz is no less delicious. And, okay, it isn’t a straightforward cocktail. Rather, it’s a spritz — an Italian, wine-based cocktail that is bubbly, refreshing, and lower in alcohol content. They’re perfect for sipping during the summer, but they can also be enjoyed year-round, and the Paisley is a great example of their versatility. So what is it? A Paisley spritz is a cocktail made from a base of Chardonnay or Chablis, ginger ale, and Drambuie (a honey and herb liqueur).  

This spritz isn’t your typical, fruit-forward spritzer. Its use of the honey and herbal Drambuie, combined with the complex and spicy edge of ginger ale, makes it much more subtle and complex. And because it has a kick of ginger, this drink works well even in the deep, dark depths of winter. Just add a sprig of rosemary and a few cranberries for garnish. If you’re feeling more summery, you can top the spritz with the equally-fitting lemon wedge. This is, of course, just the start of ginger ale’s spritz abilities. You can add the soda to many wines, red or white, and garnish with most any topping possible to suit your own flavor preferences.

Some things are so simple, so perfectly crafted, that they need no addition — they rebuff all attempts at reinvention or alteration. Well, that’s absolute balderdash! Of course, the classics are nice, and they’re classic for a reason. But there is always room for a twist, which is precisely what the ginger old fashioned is. Traditionally speaking, an old fashioned consists only of three ingredients: whiskey or bourbon, simple syrup or muddled sugar, and Angostura bitters. It’s often garnished with an orange peel and/or a few cherries, but that’s all. It’s absolutely delicious, but on a balmy summer day, this cocktail might not hit all of the refreshing notes you crave during sunny, humid weather. This is where the ginger old fashioned comes in. 

A ginger old fashioned is pretty simple: It’s just a regular old fashioned with a splash of ginger ale for brightness, bite, and a bit more sweetness. It is similar to a Wisconsin old fashioned, which uses lemon lime soda instead of ginger ale. But where lemon lime soda can help bring out the citrus taste of Angostura bitters, ginger ale draws out the complex, warm taste of your whiskey or bourbon and adds dimension to the bitters rather than simply emphasizing them. It can also help to dilute the bourbon base, making it easier to enjoy for those who enjoy cocktails with a lower ABV.