Sparkling Arnold Palmer

★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★

This recipe is a twist on the classic drink known as an Arnold Palmer. This drink is named after a professional golfer who famously mixed together tea with lemonade to create this iconic summer beverage.

It's a simple non-alcoholic drink that you can make with sweet or unsweet tea.

This fizzy Arnold Palmer is a great drink choice for occasions when you want something a but more fun than water, lemonade or tea.

This is a kid-friendly drink so it's fun to serve at a birthday party or as a treat during the hot summer months.

Set up a self-serve Arnold Palmer beverage station.

This drink makes for a super cute beverage bar for picnics, barbecues and potlucks. Think Memorial Day, Labor Day, and 4th of July. Set up a simple, self-serve bar by offering a large decanter of tea, a bucket of ice, a few potted plants of fresh mint and chilled cans of sparkling lemonade. Set out some straws and cups and you've got an adorable set up that people will have fun with!

★ Ingredients You'll Need ★

This drink recipe is very simple to make. You just need two main ingredients, plus ice and if you want to be fancy, mint for garnish.

Here's everything you need:

1. Tea. You can choose sweet or unsweet tea depending on how sweet your want your sparkling Arnold Palmer to be. I find that the lemonade adds enough sweetness so my personal preference is unsweet tea. You do you though.
   You can used bottled iced tea or make your own. My recipe for sun tea is below, under the FAQs.
2. Sparkling lemonade. Any brand of sparkling lemonade works. If you want to eliminate sugar, you can use zero sugar lemonade and unsweet tea. Your choice.
3. Ice. I like the texture of crush ice but any ice will do.
4. Fresh mint. This is totally optional but I also like to garnish my drinks with a sprig of fresh mint just for fun! It looks pretty and adds a nice aroma when you take a sip.

That's it! Just these few things and about 5 minutes of time is all you need to mix up this tasty summer drink.

★ Make it a Cocktail! ★

This yummy drink can easily be made into a cocktail for adults by simply adding vodka, gin, or bourbon. Stir in 1.5oz (or 1 shot) of alcohol before topping off with sparkling lemonade.

★ FAQs & Tips ★

What the difference between a Sparkling vs. Traditional Arnold Palmer?

Traditional Arnold Palmers are made with lemonade and tea. So this fizzy, sparkling Arnold Palmer recipe adds an extra element of bubbles.

I really like this twist for certain occasions. For example, when you want to sip on something non-alcoholic in a party setting, this carbonated version is a great way to go.

If you're looking to quench your thirst, like say, after you've just mowed the lawn, the traditional version using non-carbonated lemonade might be the better choice. You can chug that sucker down and refresh yourself quickly.

You can choose which version to make depending on if you are leisurely sipping this drink or if you really need something to quench your thirst.

How to Make Sun Tea

I love the taste of fresh-brewed iced tea but don't love having to actually brew it. This is why sun tea is the perfect solution.

I make single-serving sun tea in a quart-sized Mason jar with a pour cap and use four tea bags (1 per cup). I start with warm water from the tap and let the jar sit in a sunny window for a few hours until it's a nice dark color.

Once the tea has steeped, I remove the bags and then add ice or refrigerate. 

I'm a bit of a romantic so I like the idea of the sun doing the work of brewing my tea but from what I understand, slow transitions in temperature also prevent the tea from becoming cloudy as a bonus.

★ More Recipes You'll Love ★

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This Sparkling Arnold Palmer recipe was featured on South Your Mouth!