Half-Tea, Half-Lemonade Pitcher (The Classic Arnold Palmer)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The clubhouse classic, rebuilt so both halves actually taste like something: black tea cold-brewed overnight so it stays crystal clear and never turns bitter or cloudy, plus a lemonade built on a warm lemon-zest syrup that pulls the oils out of the peel. Mixed just shy of 50/50 and poured over a lot of ice, it's tart, brisk and barely sweet — the porch drink you keep going back to the fridge for.

Ingredients

• 6 cups cold filtered water
• 6 bags black tea bags (orange pekoe, English breakfast or Ceylon), or 2 tablespoons loose-leaf black tea

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 lemons, zested in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 5 to 6 lemons)
• 3 3/4 cups cold water
• 1 lemon, cut into thin wheels, for serving
• 1 small handful fresh mint sprigs, optional
• plenty of ice, preferably large cubes

Instructions

1. Start the tea the night before: put the 6 tea bags (or loose tea in a large infuser) in a 2-quart pitcher or jar, add 6 cups cold filtered water, cover, and refrigerate 10 to 14 hours. Cold brewing extracts flavor without the tannins that make hot-brewed iced tea bitter and cloudy.
2. Lift out the tea bags and let them drip for a few seconds without squeezing — squeezing pushes out bitter tannins. If you used loose leaf, strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Keep the tea refrigerated.
3. Make the syrup: combine the sugar, 3/4 cup water, the wide strips of lemon zest and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes; do not let it boil hard. Remove from the heat, cover, and steep 20 minutes as it cools.
4. Strain the syrup into a measuring cup, pressing the zest lightly against the sieve; discard the zest. You should have about 1 1/4 cups. Cool to room temperature (10 minutes in the freezer speeds this up).
5. Juice the lemons and strain out the seeds and pulp to get 1 cup juice. In a 1-gallon pitcher or two large jars, stir together the lemon juice, all of the lemon-zest syrup and 3 3/4 cups cold water. Taste: it should be aggressively tart and lightly sweet, since the tea will soften it.
6. Pour in the 6 cups of cold-brewed tea and stir gently. Taste again and adjust — a splash more tea for a maltier, drier drink, a spoonful more syrup if your lemons were especially sharp. Chill at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
7. Fill tall glasses to the brim with ice, pour the Arnold Palmer over, and finish each with a lemon wheel and a mint sprig if you like. Serve the rest of the pitcher on ice alongside, stirring before each pour.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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