cocktail review no. 76 - Arnold Palmer

Palmer in 1953, while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Two quick notes before we begin:

(1) This beverage is also referred to as a "Half-and-Half" in some areas, particularly the American South.

(2) Yes, it's nonalcoholic. Do I care? Not a whit.

Arnold Daniel Palmer (born Sep. 10, 1929) is an American professional golfer, widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to grace the greens. He won seven major championships: the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964; the U.S. Open in 1960; and the Open Championship in 1961 and 1962. The golden years were 1960-1963, when he won 29 PGA Tour events. He built up a huge fan base (known as "Arnie's Army"), won Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award in 1960, and became the first man to reach one million dollars in career earnings (on the 1967 PGA Tour).

I'm frankly surprised that the golf-obsessed Koreans don't know the dude's name.

The nonalcoholic cocktail that came to be named after him was something Palmer himself liked to drink at home. In 1960—the year he won most of the awards listed above—he was playing in the U.S. Open at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado, and he ordered the drink at the bar. A nearby woman overheard him, and ordered "that Palmer drink." A legend was born.

Here's the recipe:

• 5 ounces tea
• 5 ounces lemonade

Combine the ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice.

I tell you, nothing makes a better after-workout drink than this, except for perhaps a bottle of Gatorade. It's cool, refreshing, sweet (but not sickeningly so) and the tea gives it just the right amount of kick. That goes double if you use one of the strong grain teas they have over here in Korea, or heotgae cha—tea made from the fruit of the Oriental raisin tree. (Heotgae, incidentally, was approved by the Korean FDA as a hangover cure, so...maybe a heotgae Arnold Palmer would be better than a Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning.)

It makes a pretty good NaNoWriMo drink, too. Doesn't muddle your thinking; in fact, I'd allege that it does the opposite. Makes you think like a champ.

As always, I invite you to try it yourself if you don't believe me. Low calories, fine taste, re-hydrating, and best of all...no hangover in the morning.

Sometimes that's rather nice, isn't it?