The Shirley Temple Just Became This Summer’s Frozen Treat

The Shirley Temple comeback shows no sign of slowing down. This time, it’s frozen.

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Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is turning the nostalgic mocktail into a limited-time Shirley Temple Italian Ice, arriving July 20th at participating locations. Inspired by the classic drink, the new flavor combines sweet cherry and bright citrus in Rita’s signature Italian Ice and is finished with edible “Shirley Sparkle” for a little extra shimmer. So you get all the fun of a Shirley Temple, minus the bubbles.

And because Rita’s isn’t stopping at one menu item, the flavor is also showing up in three other limited-time treats: a Shirley Temple Ice Gelati layered with vanilla frozen custard, a Shirley Temple Ice Blender spun into a smooth frozen drink, and a Shirley Temple Misto Shake that blends the ice into creamy vanilla custard. It’s the same flavor stretched across nearly every format Rita’s makes, which tells you the chain is betting big on this one. It may also be just the beginning―Rita’s has teased that this is the opening act of its “biggest summer celebration yet,” with more nostalgic launches promised later this month.

The Shirley Temple Is Having A Moment

If it feels like you’ve been hearing about Shirley Temples a lot lately, you’re not imagining it.

The mocktail has quietly become one of the food world’s most-remade flavors. 7UP canned it. Olipop turned it into a prebiotic soda. Bloom made it an energy drink. There are even rumors that GHOST is about to join the party. A drink many of us hadn’t ordered since childhood has suddenly become one of the summer’s biggest flavor trends.

It makes sense. Mocktails are having an extended cultural moment and the Shirley Temple is arguably the original. It’s nostalgic, instantly recognizable, and its sweet cherry-and-citrus flavor profile is distinctive enough to survive being reformatted into just about anything—soda, energy drinks, and now Italian Ice.

There’s also something a little funny about watching a “grown-up” drink that was never actually alcoholic become one of the hottest flavor trends of the summer. Rita’s is simply the latest brand to ask a very reasonable question: What if you could eat it instead of drink it?

But Does It Pass the Grenadine Test?

Here’s what I’m most curious about.

The best Shirley Temples aren’t just sweet cherry and citrus. They’re defined by grenadine―the pomegranate syrup that gives the drink its signature sweetness and that deeper, slightly tart edge. Take that away and you don’t really have a Shirley Temple anymore. You have a cherry drink wearing its name.

Rita’s describes the new Italian Ice as a blend of sweet cherry and bright citrus, without specifically mentioning grenadine or pomegranate. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s missing―press releases rarely list every flavor note―but it’ll be the first thing I’ll be looking for when the new treat arrives on July 20th.

Because if the Shirley Temple really is becoming one of this summer’s defining flavors, nailing that balance is what separates a genuine nostalgic hit from just another cherry dessert.

Get it right, and Rita’s has a worthy addition to the Shirley Temple canon.