Mixers

Ginger Ale

Ginger ale is a clear, fizzy ginger-flavoured mixer with no alcohol and far less heat than ginger beer. It comes in two styles: the darker, sweeter golden style credited to Thomas Cantrell in 1850s Belfast, and the paler dry style John McLaughlin launched in Canada in 1904. It lengthens cognac in a Horse's Neck and rye in a Presbyterian, and makes up most of a Shirley Temple.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

OriginIreland and Canada

Flavour Strengthlight medium

Our keeping timeUnopened: to the best-before date. Opened: a day or two, resealed and refrigerated, before it goes flat.

Storage

Refrigerate and use within a day or two of opening before it goes flat.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes change: check the bottle.

The ingredient

About Ginger Ale

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

GingerSweetCrispLight

Tasting Notes

Crisp and sweet with a gentle ginger lift and no real heat; lighter and drier than ginger beer.

Ginger ale is flavoured, not brewed

Commercial ginger ale is carbonated water, sugar and an acid, flavoured with ginger and other natural flavourings and often coloured with caramel. Nothing ferments, so it pours clear. Ginger beer is cloudier and hotter because it carries ginger root or the residue of brewing. Neither is alcoholic as normally sold, and the names say nothing about strength.

Golden and dry are two styles

The first ginger ale, credited to Thomas Cantrell in Belfast in the 1850s, was the golden style: dark, sweet and strongly gingered. The dry style came from John McLaughlin in Canada in 1904, paler and milder, and it is what most mixer bottles are now. "Dry" refers to the ginger and the colour, not to sugar.

Ginger ale styles against ginger beer

Golden ginger ale

First made: Belfast, 1850s (Cantrell)
Look: Dark gold, clear
Ginger: Strong and sweet
Use it for: Drinking on its own, or a robust spirit

Dry ginger ale

First made: Canada, 1904 (McLaughlin)
Look: Pale, clear
Ginger: Mild
Use it for: Whisky and brandy highballs

Ginger beer

First made: England, 18th century
Look: Cloudy
Ginger: Hot
Use it for: Mules and drinks where the ginger leads

Drink	First made	Look	Ginger	Use it for
Golden ginger ale	Belfast, 1850s (Cantrell)	Dark gold, clear	Strong and sweet	Drinking on its own, or a robust spirit
Dry ginger ale	Canada, 1904 (McLaughlin)	Pale, clear	Mild	Whisky and brandy highballs
Ginger beer	England, 18th century	Cloudy	Hot	Mules and drinks where the ginger leads

Brandy, rye and a soft drink use it

Our Horse's Neck hangs a whole lemon spiral in a highball and tops 40ml of cognac with 120ml of ginger ale. The Presbyterian splits 120ml of mixer between ginger ale and soda water over rye, which takes the sweetness down. The Shirley Temple is 150ml of ginger ale with grenadine sunk through it. For a named bottle, Fever-Tree Ginger Ale and its spiced orange version each have a page.

Cold, over plenty of ice and opened last

Fill the glass to the top with ice, add the spirit, then run the ginger ale down the inside of the glass and lift once with a bar spoon. Cold liquid holds its gas; warm ale foams and goes flat in the glass. An opened bottle lasts a day or two in the fridge, so buy the size that fits the round.

Using it

Using Ginger Ale

Usage

Our ginger ale drinks run from 60ml, with the same of soda water over rye in a Presbyterian, 120ml over 40ml of cognac in a Horse's Neck, 150ml with 15ml of grenadine in a Shirley Temple. Add it cold and last, then stir once.

Pro Tip

When a whisky and ginger ale tastes sweet and dull, cut the ale with soda before you add more whisky. Half and half, as in a Presbyterian, holds on to the ginger and the length while halving the sugar.

Top Tips

Choose dry ginger ale for whisky and brandy. The golden style is sweeter and more strongly gingered, and can cover a delicate spirit.
Split it with soda water when a ginger ale tastes too sweet, as the Presbyterian does.
Cut the Horse's Neck peel before anything else: a whole lemon in one spiral, hooked over the rim before the ice goes in.
Open small bottles. An opened bottle loses its lift quickly, and tired ale tastes sugary.

Possible Substitutions

Ginger Beer: hotter and cloudier: it takes over a light spirit
Lemon-Lime Soda: sweeter and no ginger: the later Shirley Temple swap

Production Method

Carbonated water with sugar, an acid and ginger flavouring, usually with other natural flavourings and caramel colour. Most commercial ginger ale is flavoured and carbonated rather than fermented, so the liquid stays clear where ginger beer is cloudy. The dry style is paler and lighter in ginger than the golden.

History & Context

The drink is credited to Thomas Joseph Cantrell, an Irish apothecary who made a dark, sweet, strongly gingered golden ale in Belfast in the 1850s. John J. McLaughlin introduced a paler "Pale Dry" ginger ale in Canada in 1904, patented in 1907 as Canada Dry, and the dry style spread as a mixer in the United States during Prohibition.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is ginger ale?

A clear, sweetened fizzy drink with a ginger flavour, often coloured gold with caramel. It has no alcohol and only a light ginger warmth, which is why it is used to lengthen whisky and brandy without hiding them. Despite the name it is not an ale and is not brewed.

Does ginger ale have alcohol in it?

Commercial ginger ale has none: it is carbonated water, sugar and flavourings, not a fermented drink. Some traditional homemade versions are fermented with a ginger bug and can carry a little alcohol, but nothing on a supermarket shelf labelled ginger ale should. Any alcohol in the glass comes from the spirit poured with it.

What is the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer?

Ginger beer is cloudy and hot, from ginger root or brewing residue; ginger ale is clear, lighter and flavoured rather than brewed. Sugar depends on the brand rather than the type. In a drink, ginger ale lets the spirit show and ginger beer leads, so the two are not interchangeable in a recipe.

What is dry ginger ale?

The paler style with a milder ginger flavour, introduced by John McLaughlin in Canada in 1904 and sold as Canada Dry. Dry describes the taste and colour rather than a low sugar level: a dry ginger ale can still carry 7g or more of sugar in 100ml. Most mixer ginger ales are this style.

Does whisky go with ginger ale?

Very well, and Scotch, bourbon and rye all take it. A common highball runs three of ale to one of whisky, say 150ml over 50ml, in an iced glass. Our Presbyterian uses rye with ginger ale and soda water in equal parts, which keeps it drier.

What is a Horse's Neck?

Cognac and ginger ale over ice in a highball, with a whole lemon peeled in one spiral and hung inside the glass; our recipe uses 40ml of cognac to 120ml of ale and an optional dash of Angostura. It began, by at least the 1900s, as a non-alcoholic ginger ale with lemon peel.

Can I use lemonade instead of ginger ale?

In a Shirley Temple, yes: lemon-lime soda is a later, sweeter version of the drink. In a whisky or brandy highball it changes the drink, because the ginger is what ties the mixer to the spirit. For a Presbyterian, soda water on its own is the closer swap.

How long does ginger ale keep once opened?

Recapped and cold, it holds a little fizz for a day or two. After that it has gone flat, and flat ale tastes sweeter, because the carbon dioxide was part of what kept it crisp. A sealed bottle lasts to its printed date; chill it before opening so the gas holds.

From the Guides

Whisky and ginger ale: ratio and whisky

Styles of ginger ale

Make something

Made with Ginger Ale

Featured In These Cocktails

Shirley Temple Presbyterian Horse’s Neck

Often Used With

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026

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