Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Arnold Palmer
Created by Chef Dean
The legendary golfer's signature refreshment: brisk black tea meets tart fresh lemonade in a drink so perfectly balanced it became an American institution, best served ice-cold on a summer afternoon.
Arnold Palmer didn't invent this combination. People had been mixing tea and lemonade long before he was born. But he ordered it so often, with such specific preferences, that waitresses and bartenders across the country started calling it by his name. By the 1960s, you could walk into any golf club in America and ask for an Arnold Palmer, and they knew exactly what you meant.
The drink succeeds because of tension. Tart lemon pushes against tannic tea. Sweetness bridges them. Ice keeps everything crisp. Get the balance right and each sip refreshes more than the last. Get it wrong and you have brown lemonade or weak tea with citrus.
I've served this at more barbecues than I can count. It appeals to everyone: designated drivers, children, guests who simply want something cold and satisfying that isn't water. Make it with fresh lemons and properly brewed tea. The bottled stuff cannot compare. This is a drink worth the twenty minutes it takes to do properly.
Ingredients
water
Quantity
6 cups
divided
loose-leaf black tea
Quantity
4 tablespoons
or 6 black tea bags
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 cup
about 6-8 lemons
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| waterdivided | 6 cups |
| loose-leaf black teaor 6 black tea bags | 4 tablespoons |
| fresh lemon juiceabout 6-8 lemons | 1 cup |
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