I don’t know a lot about golf, but what I do know is this: Arnold Palmer has a drink named after him. It’s been around for quite a while, and somehow I managed to miss it until recently when I discovered a version of the drink listed on a little placard at my table at Sweet Tomatoes. The drink is called an Arnold Palmer and it’s half iced tea and half lemonade.
Legend has it, and by legend I mean an “article” written by some guy for Arnold Palmer’s magazine, that he ordered the drink after a long day of designing golf courses in Palm Springs (poor guy). Someone overheard him, ordered the same, and whaddaya know, now it’s everywhere. I wouldn’t believe it, but it’s right there on the internet.
He shills the stuff himself now and has partnered with AriZona to sell big tall cans emblazoned with his wrinkly old man face. Now that I’m aware it’s a thing, I see the stuff everywhere.
Sugar, water, lemon, and tea have been around for quite a while. I make iced tea by putting tea into water. Then I put sugar into the iced tea. Finally, I put lemon into the iced tea. Don’t worry if you didn’t get all that, I can email you the recipe if you want. But you see my friends, Arnie’s genius comes from putting the lemon and sugar into the water in a separate container, and THEN pouring it into the iced tea.
Boston iced tea is half tea and half cranberry juice. It’s called Boston iced tea because the person who invented it (I’m assuming they lived in Boston) just liked to drink cranberry juice and iced tea, and no putter wielding jackass has tried to claim it as his own. Come on Arnold, you’re maybe the most famous golfer in history who isn’t Tiger Woods. Isn’t that enough? You ordered a drink made up of other drinks. You are not a refreshment genius, you are a self-aggrandizing old coot. You didn’t invent this drink, you stole it and put your name on it.
Which is why I love the fact that Peace Tea stole the stolen idea and even kept the golf angle (hopefully for spite). I’d like to think they have the same level of disdain for Arnold Palmer as I do. Caddy Shack Peace Tea doesn’t say “half iced tea and half lemonade,” it just says “tea + lemonade.” But they are driving for the same hole, decking out their cans with happy golfers enjoying the good life, and carefully avoiding classic comedy infringement by adding an all-important space between “Caddy” and “Shack.”
The stronger flavor is the lemonade. It’s quite enjoyably refreshing and doesn’t overpower or pucker. The “100% natural tea” is not even mildly strong, nor is it overly sweet. Caddy Shack is sweetened with both sugar and sucralose. While I am an avowed opponent of sucralose (I administer nightly corn syrup IV’s before bed), there is only enough here to make its taste barely noticeable. I like this stuff a lot, and as it was my first Peace Tea, I’m looking forward to trying other flavors.
Tomorrow I’m going to grab an Arnold Palmer AriZona for comparison, but even if it’s better I’ll never admit it. The war against Arnold Palmer must begin here and now. Rest up and charge the golf carts. For tomorrow WE RIDE!
Half iced tea, half lemonade is known very simply as a half and half in Baltimore. No golfers involved.
That makes too much sense
I saw so many people drinking the Arnold Palmer stuff, so I finally asked why. Everyone told me it is because it is 99 cents. There you have your answer about why people even drink it!
It’s a bargain!
Peace Tea is also just 99 cents in most stores for the 23 oz can (like the AP version). I was hooked on the AP half & half lite (50 calories, 14g carbs per 8oz serving) when the store where I work started selling 3 Peace Tea varieties. I tried Caddy Shack and my first impression was that it had an aftertaste that I didn’t like when compared to AP. I decided ‘that old coot’ Arnold had won.
Strangely though, within a couple days, I found myself craving not an AP but a Caddy Shack. I still drink AP occasionally (though I can’t say his name fast without slaughtering it!!!), but I have come to prefer Caddy Shack. A slight bonus, PTCS has one less carb per 8oz serving than AP 1/2 &1/2 lite. AP also has a 1/2 Sweet Tea & 1/2 PINK Lemonade that is really good. To my knowledge, Peace Tea hasn’t released a comparable product though I wish they would.
Keep the Peace, folks!
Peace tea just released 3 new flavors, include a pink lemonade + tea! http://www.peaceicedtea.com if you wanna check it out!!
I just tried the Peace Tea Cranberry-Tea. Uh, as much as I like tea and cranberry juice, this mixing just didn’t do it for me. I’m stickin’ to the other flavors. Peace…tea…
Step off Arnold Palmer. In jest, or not, Mr. Palmer and his wife have done more for children’s charities and children’s hospitals than any other athlete I know with the exception of Tiger Woods. The drink, in my experience at age 47 has always been called the “Arnold Palmer”. In conclusion, I love the peace tea version of the drink and will continue to rightfully refer to it as “The Arnold Palmer”.