How Did The Arnold Palmer Drink Get Its Name? Includes Directions On How To Make An Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer is back in the media again - these days as a pitchman for a blood thinner medication called Xarelto.  Palmer - the retired professional golfer and course designer - is featured in television commercials with comedian Kevin Nealon and NASCAR driver Brian Vickers pitching for the pharmaceutical company.

In the commercial, Mr. Palmer orders an "Arnold Palmer" beverage from the wait staff.  I'm familiar with the drink and was generally aware of its origins, but a quick in-office survey determined that many people aren't;  most of these people were much younger than me.

So - what is an Arnold Palmer and how did it get it's name?

The drink is a mixture of unsweetened iced tea mixed with sweetened lemonade.  Fans of the non-alcoholic drink have made it so popular that it's been mass-produced and sold in stores.  Although many manufacturers have produced the drink over the years, the current mainstream maker is the Arizona Tea Company.

The ratio of the two ingredients that form the beverage have evolved over the years.  Palmers original mix was mostly iced tea with a splash of lemonade at the end - almost an 90-10 combination.  Palmer still prefers his drink that way.  Mainstream consumer trends have shifted this mixture to a 50-50 split.

Palmer has said that he drank this drink at home for years before going public with it sometime in the 1960's.  The widely-accepted story has Palmer ordering the drink at a clubhouse bar;  when a neighboring customer wanted the same thing, she said something to the effect of "I'll have one of those Palmer drinks...".