What Cocktails Can You Make with Grenadine? 4 IBA Recipes

The Direct Answer: Four Cocktails with Grenadine

If you have grenadine, you can make a Tequila Sunrise with tequila and orange juice, a Mary Pickford with white rum, pineapple juice, and maraschino liqueur, a Monkey Gland with dry gin, orange juice, and absinthe, or a Singapore Sling with gin and a longer list of liqueurs, juices, and bitters. All four are current International Bartenders Association (IBA) recipes, but they solve different inventory problems.

Start with the shortest complete route your shelf supports. Tequila plus orange juice points to the Tequila Sunrise. White rum, pineapple juice, and maraschino point to the Mary Pickford. Gin, orange juice, and absinthe open the Monkey Gland. The Singapore Sling is the route for a deeper shelf that also holds cherry liqueur, orange liqueur, Bénédictine, pineapple, lime, and bitters.

Grenadine is not a base spirit, so its value comes from connecting bottles you already own. Check the whole recipe before pouring, measure one serving, and enjoy alcoholic drinks slowly and responsibly. BarShelf’s cocktail finder from ingredients can make that shelf-first check repeatable.

Match Grenadine to Your Home Bar Inventory

Place grenadine at the center of a quick inventory map. Around it, list tequila, white rum, and dry gin, then mark only bottles that are actually open. Add orange juice, pineapple juice, lime, maraschino liqueur, cherry liqueur, orange liqueur, Bénédictine, absinthe, and aromatic bitters as supporting branches.

This reveals two useful tiers. The Tequila Sunrise is the most direct: three measured ingredients. The Mary Pickford and Monkey Gland each need four. The Singapore Sling needs eight ingredients, so it should be chosen because the shelf already supports it—not because grenadine alone is available.

Record grenadine as its own item rather than a generic “red syrup.” Each cited formula specifically names grenadine syrup. If you use a different syrup, save the result as a house variation instead of assuming it reproduces the IBA specification. Also track the quantity left; a small bottle can quietly remain open while the spirits around it change.

Tequila and Rum Cocktails with Grenadine

Tequila Sunrise

The IBA Tequila Sunrise specification uses 45 ml tequila, 90 ml fresh orange juice, and 15 ml grenadine syrup. Pour the tequila and orange juice into an ice-filled highball, then add the grenadine to create the color effect without stirring. Garnish with half an orange slice or orange zest.

Choose this when tequila and fresh orange juice are already available. The build happens in the serving glass, so no shaker is required. The order matters: mixing the grenadine through the drink would change the published presentation. Note the tequila bottle, juice, and grenadine measure so you can distinguish the official build from later experiments.

Mary Pickford

The IBA Mary Pickford specification combines 45 ml white rum, 45 ml fresh pineapple juice, 7.5 ml Maraschino Luxardo, and 5 ml grenadine syrup. Shake all ingredients well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; the IBA page lists no garnish.

This route makes sense when a white rum and maraschino bottle are already open. It also reuses pineapple juice without requiring the longer Singapore Sling list. If pineapple is the ingredient you need to finish first, compare the other options in the pineapple juice cocktail guide. For organizing the liqueur component, the maraschino cocktail guide shows where that bottle connects elsewhere.

Two Gin Routes: Simple vs Deep Shelf

Monkey Gland

The IBA Monkey Gland specification lists 45 ml dry gin, 45 ml fresh orange juice, one tablespoon absinthe, and one tablespoon grenadine syrup. Shake everything well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No garnish is specified.

Choose it when gin, orange juice, and absinthe are already present. A tablespoon is the published measure for both absinthe and grenadine, so do not silently convert them into unmeasured dashes. If the absinthe bottle is unfamiliar, the cocktails with absinthe guide offers other sourced routes before you decide what belongs in your regular rotation.

Singapore Sling

The IBA Singapore Sling specification uses 30 ml gin, 15 ml Cherry Sangue Morlacco, 7.5 ml Cointreau, 7.5 ml DOM Bénédictine, 120 ml fresh pineapple juice, 15 ml fresh lime juice, 10 ml grenadine syrup, and a dash of Angostura bitters. Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a Hurricane glass, and garnish with pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

This is the deep-inventory choice. Before starting, read the list from beginning to end. Grenadine, gin, and pineapple are not enough; the three liqueurs, lime, and bitters are structural ingredients in the cited formula. If one is missing, make a complete shorter recipe rather than disguising an omission as the IBA Singapore Sling.

Choose a Grenadine Cocktail from What You Own

Use this decision path:

1. Tequila + fresh orange juice: make the Tequila Sunrise.
2. White rum + pineapple + maraschino: make the Mary Pickford.
3. Dry gin + orange juice + absinthe: make the Monkey Gland.
4. Gin + the full liqueur, citrus, pineapple, and bitters list: make the Singapore Sling.

Once one route is complete, prepare the specified glass, chill what needs chilling, and measure every ingredient. Follow the method as written: the Tequila Sunrise is built and left unstirred, while the other three are shaken and strained. Those differences are part of the recipe, not decorative details.

After the drink, update the approximate fill level of the base bottle and the remaining grenadine. Save one practical observation—exact syrup brand, sweetness balance, glass size, or which ingredient became the next constraint. A useful record should make the next shelf decision quicker.

Grenadine Cocktail FAQ

What is the easiest cocktail to make with grenadine?

Among these four IBA recipes, the Tequila Sunrise has the shortest ingredient list: tequila, fresh orange juice, and grenadine. It also builds directly in the serving glass. The easiest choice for your home bar is still the complete recipe whose ingredients you already own.

Do I need to stir grenadine into a Tequila Sunrise?

No. The cited IBA method says to add grenadine for the sunrise color effect and not stir. The Mary Pickford, Monkey Gland, and Singapore Sling use different methods: their grenadine is shaken with the other ingredients.

Can I replace grenadine with another red syrup?

You can test a personal variation, but each source here names grenadine syrup. Record a substitution clearly rather than calling it the same published formula.

Which bottle should I buy next?

First make the complete route that requires no new spirit. If two routes are possible, choose the bottle or juice you want to use while it is open. BarShelf can keep each bottle, mixer, fill level, and tasting note connected, so grenadine becomes a useful bridge across your real collection instead of another forgotten ingredient.