Spiked Arnold Palmer

Iced tea, lemonade, and bourbon — Palmer's half-and-half (winner of 62 PGA Tour events, four Masters) given spirits, sometimes called the John Daly.

The Spiked Arnold Palmer combines one of America's most beloved non-alcoholic refreshments with bourbon or Tennessee whiskey, producing a cocktail whose cultural reference is immediately legible to virtually any American. Arnold Palmer (1929–2016) was one of the most celebrated professional golfers in history, winner of 62 PGA Tour events including four Masters championships at Augusta National Golf Club, seven major titles in total, and the first player to win the Masters four times. He was also instrumental in building the PGA Tour's television presence during the sport's 1960s boom. The drink that bears his name — half iced tea and half lemonade — was, by Palmer's own account, something he regularly ordered during tournament play. The combination was already common in the American South, where sweet tea and lemonade were household staples, but Palmer's visible consumption of the mixture and his willingness to put his name to it gave the non-alcoholic version a cultural identity that the recipe alone never would have achieved. The spiked version adds bourbon, rye, or Tennessee whiskey to the mix, producing a drink sometimes called the John Daly — named for golfer John Daly, known for his powerful drives and colorful off-course personality — though the Spiked Arnold Palmer name is more widely used and simply describes the alcoholic elaboration of the original. The tartness of the lemonade and the earthiness of the tea both complement bourbon's barrel character in ways that make the combination coherent as a cocktail rather than simply a novelty.