On Sunday, September 25 legendary golfer Arnold Palmer passed away at the age of 87. While he is known as “The King” on the golf course, Arnold Palmer was also made himself a household name thanks to his iconic beverage blend of lemonade and iced tea.
It can be found at almost any grocery store…How did Arnold Palmer concoct such a famous elixir? According to an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on the classic American drink, Palmer said,
“My wife made a lot of iced tea for lunch, and I said, ‘Hey babe, I’ve got an idea. You make the iced tea and make a big pitcher, and we’ll just put a little lemonade in it and see how that works.’ We mixed it up…I had it for lunch after working on the golf course. I thought, ‘Boy, this is great, babe. I’m going to take it when I play golf. I’m going to take a thermos of iced tea and lemonade.'”
How did it become so darn famous? According to the documentary, Palmer was at a restaurant on a hot day in the 1970s and asked the waitress for an “ice tea, with about a third or a quarter of it lemonade.” A woman sitting near him overheard his unusual order and told the waitress that she wanted an “Arnold Palmer.” After that, the drink “spread like wildfire.”
In the mid-2000s, Arizona Iced Tea bought the rights to the name and began selling the popular canned version. Many other brands, such as Lipton Brisk, Snapple, and Honest Tea began selling their version of the Arnold Palmer, dubbing it the “half and half,” which differs from Palmer’s original recipe of two parts iced tea, one part lemonade.
DIY Arnold Palmer
On campus, buying cans of Arnold Palmer can get to be really pricey, so hack your dining hall and DIY that AP.
If you want to stick with the OG AP, use two parts iced tea and, one part lemonade. Feeling adventurous? Try jazzing things up a bit and use pink lemonade or an iced green tea. Don’t be afraid to amp up your AP, the options are endless!