Unique Sode Review: Saranac’s Shirley Temple Soda

It was August of 2012, my family planned a nice summer BBQ in the backyard, family members arrived carrying nothing more than coolers and standard BYOB bags. I smiled at the gathering and then my eyes spied something off, something very off!

My 7 year old niece appeared to be holding (and sipping) a wine cooler!

I sprinted toward her to retrieve the alcoholic beverage, yanked it out of her hands and…I felt pretty stupid when she yelled, “Gimme back my soda!”

I glanced at the bottle, and to my shock my little peanut was sipping on a bottle of Saranac’s Shirley Temple Soda; thankfully a non-alcoholic beverage. I was intrigued, beyond intrigued. I knew then and there that I had to acquire this soda. Being a huge junkie of unique soda flavors, there was no way I was letting this interesting flavor pass me by. I thought about taking a swig from the wee one, but knew her fussing and crying over it wouldn’t be worth the headache.

Behold the luck of the day, my sister had brought a pack of 6 over with her. I did not hesitate at all to ask for one.

As I held the freshly chilled bottle in my hand, I thought this soda would become one of my go-to drinks. I imagined I would like it so much, that it would become a drink that would forever be stocked in my fridge. Shirley Temples are a classic, it was the refined beverage of choice in every restaurant we ever went to when I was a child. Growing up with not a whole lot of money also made restaurant trips all the more scarce and rare, so this drink was literally the VIP of all drinks as far as my 5 year old inner self was concerned.

Granted as a child, I thought this drink was the holy grail of all sodas, however as I grew older, I realized I could make this magic potion all on my own with some 7UP, maraschino cherries, and grenadine syrup. How on earth one could mess up such a simple formula is beyond me, yet Saranac’s Shirley Temple Soda managed to do just that. Blech!

Taste:

Well sadly there is absolutely nothing in Saranac’s Shirley Temple Soda that makes this soda even slightly worthy to being called a Shirley Temple. Instead of that crisp refreshing lime and cherry jolt you get from a real Shirley Temple, instead you get this powerfully over the top sugary fake cherry flavored soda. The jolt of carbonation never comes, as this one is under carbonated to the point of it becoming flat a few moments after popping off the top.

For me, Saranac’s Shirley Temple Soda tasted like a cheap melted down cotton candy flavored Dumdum lollipop, with a little bit of carbonation.

Overall:

Sadly Saranac ruined this one. God only knows how you manage to screw up such a simple recipe, but they did.