Arnold Palmer
Iced tea and lemonade, half and half. Named for a golfer who ordered it so often that asking for one by name became a thing.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Brew black tea at roughly double normal strength and chill it completely.
Make lemonade from fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and water — one part juice, one part syrup, two parts water.
Fill a collins glass with ice and add the tea.
Top with the lemonade, stir once, and garnish with a lemon wheel.
A thoughtful finish
- Brew the tea double strength. It is going to be poured over ice and then cut with lemonade, and normal-strength tea disappears entirely.
- The tannin in black tea is doing the work that alcohol does in a cocktail — it gives the drink grip and a finish. Do not use a weak or herbal tea here.
- Chill the tea before building. Pouring hot tea over ice melts it instantly and you get a watery drink.
Common mistakes
- Bottled lemonade, which is mostly sugar and makes the drink flat and cloying.
- Under-brewed tea, the single most common fault — the result tastes like sweet lemon water.
- Over-sweetening. The lemonade already carries the sugar; the tea should still taste of tea.
A few good questions.
What is the correct ratio?
Palmer himself described roughly three parts tea to one part lemonade. Half and half is the common modern version and is sweeter. Start at 60:40 tea to lemonade and adjust.
What tea should I use?
A straightforward strong black tea — English breakfast, Ceylon or orange pekoe. Avoid earl grey, whose bergamot fights the lemon, and avoid herbal teas, which bring no tannin.
What is it called with vodka in it?
A John Daly, after the golfer. Same drink with a shot of vodka.
Can I batch it?
Yes, and it is one of the few drinks here that batches perfectly. Mix the tea and lemonade in a pitcher and refrigerate; add ice only when serving.
Variations
- John Daly — The same drink with vodka added.
- Green Tea Palmer — Green tea in place of black.
- Shirley Temple — Ginger ale and grenadine — the other great non-alcoholic classic.
- Virgin Mojito — Mint, lime and soda.
Where it comes from
c. 1960s · Latrobe, Pennsylvania · Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer drank iced tea mixed with lemonade for years, a habit he said came from his wife Winnie making it at home. The name stuck publicly after a woman at a restaurant in Palm Springs overheard him order it in the 1960s and asked for ‘that Arnold Palmer drink’. Palmer told the story consistently for decades and later licensed the name commercially. The ratio he described was roughly three parts tea to one part lemonade, though the half-and-half version is now what most people mean.
Sources
- Arnold Palmer, interviews and authorised accounts, various (interview)
- Arnold Palmer Enterprises, licensed product history, current (producer)
A little character in every sip.
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