Any ratio good for Arnold Palmer

And now, a dramatic reading of one of my favorite recent comedies, “Scrubs,” where newer doctor John “J.D.” Dorian tells mentor Perry Cox he’s no longer an inexperienced doctor.

Dorian: Don’t be mad, Perry. This day was bound to come. See, I’ve studied you. I’ve taken your best qualities and my best qualities and I’ve combined them into something even better. Much the way that iced tea and lemonade were joined to become an Arnold Palmer. Incidentally, has anyone ever done less to become famous? I mean, yea for me, I mixed two drinks together.

Cox: Arnold Palmer is a golfer.

Dorian: I’m sure he has lots of hobbies, Perry. The man’s a drink mogul.

And now, a dramatic retelling of a reader interaction from a few weeks ago: “You have too much time on your hands if you’re writing about peanut butter and jelly. But you’re right, nothing beats raspberry.”

And now I take those two separate thoughts and put them together like an Arnold Palmer, to tell you the hotter weather has made the Arnold Palmer a part of my routine.

The drink dates back nearly 70 years, when Palmer ordered it at the U.S. Open in 1960. A patron at the bar heard the order, said she’d also like “that Palmer drink,” and the legend grew from there.

Palmer was often known to carry his own jug of the concoction, which he prefers to be three parts unsweetened tea to one part lemonade.

It’s pretty much known as an Arnold Palmer whatever your ratio is, but you’ve probably also seen it advertised as a Half and Half.

I’m probably closer to a 60-40 lemonade dominant mix myself, but it depends on how I’m feeling and what my options are on each side of the drink.

If it’s straight unsweetened tea (I recommend Pure Leaf or Tejava), I go with a higher concentration of lemonade. If it’s a flavored tea (I prefer peach), then I up the tea ratio.

If it’s one of those really sweet lemonades like a Country Time, more tea. If it’s a more sour/sweet lemonade like I buy in gallon jugs from a warehouse club, more lemonade.

If I’m too lazy to mix it myself, I can visit a few favorite local drink spots. Come in during happy hour, and you’ve got an Arnold Palmer for about a dollar.

One of the benefits of an Arnold Palmer is that it’s a refreshing beverage that’s non-alcoholic. However, I do have days where I don’t have to work or drive, and there might be just a splash of adult beverage — we call that a John Daly.

This coming weekend marks another U.S. Open. I’m sure there will be plenty of Arnold Palmers ordered up at Shinnecock Hills, the site of this year’s tournament.

I’ll likely enjoy a little of the Sunday finale at home with my own Arnold Palmer — an unmeasured mix of peach tea, generic branded lemonade and maybe an ounce of some huckleberry vodka I picked up last summer in Montana.

Drink mogul? No. Enjoying the simple things? Definitely.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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