The Arnold Palmer iced tea is named for the golfer Arnold Palmer. In southern states it’s sometimes called a Half and Half, or a Blend. The history of the Arnold Palmer iced tea is that one day at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, Arnold Palmer asked the bartender to mix lemonade and iced tea together, as that was the way he liked to drink it while he was on tour. Other members started ordering it, as a refreshing drink after a game of golf, and its popularity grew from there.
Though it isn’t always on a restaurant menu, it’s well-known enough that any bartender (or waitress) would probably know how to create one on special order.
The sharp citrus of the lemon compliments the smoothness of the tea very well, and creates a very refreshing beverage. It’s extremely easy to make an Arnold Palmer iced tea. To make an Arnold Palmer, fill a glass halfway with lemonade, and then fill the rest of the way with iced tea (which can be sweetened, usually with simple syrup, or unsweetened).
There are many variations of this drink, made by adding different alcoholic drinks or fruits, and most of these variations have “Palmer” somewhere in the title. But one of the most popular variations is the Chi Chi Rodriguez, where lime flavoring is used instead of lemonade.
Arnold Palmer iced teas can also be found canned and bottled by many different companies, and in fact Arnold Palmer himself has his name on a line of canned Arnold Palmer iced teas.
