With Arnold Palmer’s Passing, A Look At How His Famous Drink Came To Be

You either know Arnold Palmer as a golfer or as a delicious beverage. But, really, the two are one and the same. Palmer, who passed away at the age of 87 on Sept. 25, was the one who invented the iced tea and lemonade combo.

I suppose you have a lot of time to think about ice-cold drinks when you’ve been on the golf course in the scorching sun all day, and it certainly did bode well for him.

Palmer told ESPN all about how he came up with the recipe back in 2o13.

“I came home one day and, 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,’” he said. “I thought, ‘Boy, this is great, babe. I’m gonna to take it when I play golf. I’m gonna to take a thermos of iced tea and lemonade.”’

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The drink didn’t become known as the “Arnold Palmer” until he ordered it at a country club. Apparently, a woman overheard him order iced tea with about a third of lemonade. So, when it was her turn to order,  she requested an “Arnold Palmer” for herself.

“She said, ‘I want what he ordered.’ From that day on, it spread like wildfire,” Palmer told ESPN. And the rest was history.

Just in case you’re craving this drink mixture right about now, you should know that Palmer himself said the mixture is mostly tea. If you’ve got too much lemonade, it’s just not right. So, be sure to keep that in mind when mixing this up. Then, go on and sip away!