Vintage American Cocktails

History Of The Arnold Palmer Drink/Temperance Lemon Tea

The official Arnold Palmer website states the Arnold Palmer was first invented in the late 1960s when a customer overheard the famous golfer order a mix of lemonade and iced tea. The customer said they would have what Arnold Palmer ordered, and thus, the drink was invented. These neatly packaged and simple origin stories are often false and created without knowing how something came to be. Perhaps this did happen, but I cannot find any reference to mixed lemonade and iced tea being called an Arnold Palmer till the early 1990s. Mixed lemonade and iced tea drinks date back to American prohibition. In the 1922 book Home-Made Beverages and American Drinks by M.E. Steedman, Lemon Tea is the equal mix of lemonade and iced tea. In a 1954 Life Magazine advertisement, Sunkist states that American children prefer the taste of Sunkist lemonade to others and that it tastes great mixed with iced tea. So did Arnold Palmer invent the drink? Of course not, but his name has become synonymous with the mix of lemonade and iced tea.

Recipe Resources

• 1922 Home-Made Beverages and American Drinks – Steedman
• August 2, 1954 Life Magazine
• 1991 Night Club & Bar Volume 7
• Arnold Palmer Offical Website