R.I.P. Arnold Palmer, the Golf Great Behind a Legendary Summer Drink

The golf great Arnold Palmer passed away on Sunday at the age of 87, and even if you aren't familiar with his illustrious exploits on the greens, maybe you have heard of his contribution to the summertime beverage hall of fame: the eponymous Arnold Palmer, a mix of lemonade and iced tea built for kicking back on the porch and, if you're feeling crazy, maybe a bit of vodka.

The legends about the origins of the drink are more or less true. In an interview with ESPN's 30 for 30 earlier this year, Palmer said he came up with the recipe on a break from the golf course in the middle of a hot day.

"I came home one day and my wife made a lot of iced tea for lunch, and I said, 'Hey babe, I've got an idea.'" Palmer told ESPN. "I said, 'You make the iced tea, make a big pitcher, and we'll just put a little lemonade in it and see how that works."

Palmer knew right away that he was onto something, and after some tinkering, settled upon a ratio that might surprise those who have been going for a fifty-fifty mix (many companies sell variations with a "Half and Half" tagline). According to the man himself, an Arnold Palmer isn't an Arnold Palmer unless it's about two-thirds or three-fourths iced tea and a third or quarter lemonade.

"Iced tea has the dominant side; that dominates the drink," he said. "And if it doesn't, it isn't really right."

While he was in Palm Springs designing and building a golf course in the 70s, Palmer ordered his drink at the clubhouse, and the beverage has been associated with the golfer ever since.

"I said to the waitress, 'Can you do me a favor?' And she said, 'Sure, what is it?' And I said, 'I want an iced tea, but I want about a, oh, a third or a quarter of it in lemonade.' All of the sudden the waitress went over to another table and the lady at the table said, 'I want an Arnold Palmer.'"

Palmer may not have been the first to ever mix lemonade and iced tea, but his outgoing personality and historic career cemented it as his eponymous drink. He played golf with style, going for broke on shots and (earlier in his career) smoking cigarettes on the course as he engineered incredible wins. Palmer himself said he was initially surprised that the name took hold, but decades later, one bartender who served him said he ordered the concoction by asking, with a wink, for a "Mr. Palmer."

Palmer had sold his beverage with Arizona Beverage Company since the 2000s. The company markets the drink as a "half and half" mix—a little varied from Palmer's personal preference, but more attuned to consumers' sweet teeth.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our good friend and business partner Arnold Palmer," Don Vultaggio, the founder and chairman of Arizona Beverages USA, said in a statement to MUNCHIES. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. It was a great privilege to have worked with Mr. Palmer for over a decade, developing and expanding the line of our Arnold Palmer Half & Half. We feel honored that we can have a hand in continuing to carry on his legacy."

Consumers also love booze, and there are now a bunch of tea-flavored spirits out there that you can mix into your Arnold Palmer—or you could go the route of golf bad boy Jon Daly and just drop regular vodka in there. However you enjoy it, pour a little bit out for Mr. Palmer today.