Non-alcoholic recipe
Arnold Palmer
Chilled black tea and measured house lemonade meet in a bright, gently tannic half-and-half refresher.
Ingredients
- 90 ml chilled unsweetened black tea
- 90 ml house lemonade (25 ml fresh lemon juice, 55 ml cold water, 10 ml 1:1 simple syrup)
Preparation
Prepare one serving of house lemonade by stirring 25 ml fresh lemon juice, 55 ml cold water and 10 ml 1:1 simple syrup until combined (90 ml total). For a reproducible house tea, steep 2 g plain black tea in 250 ml water at approximately 95°C for 3 minutes, strain, chill promptly and measure 90 ml finished tea. Fill a Collins glass with cubed ice, add the 90 ml tea and 90 ml house lemonade, stir briefly, and garnish with one lemon wheel. Serve immediately.
Glassware
Collins glass over cubed ice
Garnish
1 lemon wheel
History
Named for golfer Arnold Palmer, who described mixing iced tea and a little lemonade with his wife, Winnie. He popularized the combination and preferred tea to dominate; the familiar commercial 'Half & Half' uses equal parts. This 90 ml tea / 90 ml lemonade Mixology recipe is a clearly identified house variation, not Palmer's preferred ratio or a claim to have invented tea with lemonade.
Mixology View
Our measured 1:1 tea-to-lemonade build is intentionally sweeter and more citrus-forward than Palmer's tea-dominant preference. The defined house lemonade limits variation between bottled brands. These are reasoned editorial sensory expectations, not a physically tasted formulation.
Ingredient note
Black tea contains caffeine. A decaffeinated tea will change the recipe and should be tested as a separate variation.