Bourbon Arnold Palmer

At the wedding I’ll be going with a splash of bourbon and no more. After all, with cocktails preceding the ceremony, who wants a sloshed bride? It might be a great YouTube video, but I’ll save my family the embarrassment. If I was fixing myself a cocktail on a summery afternoon, you can bet that I’d go with two splashes of bourbon. What’s a splash, you say? I’ll leave that to you. Some folks like their drinks diluted, while others prefer them on the stiffer side. I won’t judge you, I promise. I do, however, highly recommend that you make your own iced tea and lemonade. It might seem like much ado about nothing, but I promise you: your final cocktail will taste so far superior to anything you’ll get from premade ingredients. Also: as a busy bride I can tell you this: squeezing lemons is not only a great workout for your forearms, but also makes for a terrific stress relief.

For the Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

For the Iced Tea:
4 black tea bags or 4 teaspoons loose black tea
6 cups boiling water

For the Lemonade:
1 cup Simple Syrup (recipe above) or Honey Syrup
1 cup fresh lemon juice

To Finish:
Bourbon
Ice cubes

Make the Simple Syrup:
In a small pot, combine the sugar with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and refrigerate until needed. Simple syrup can be refrigerated for about 2 weeks.

Make the Iced Tea:
Place the tea in a pitcher and pour the boiling water over. Set aside and let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Remove (strain if using loose tea) the tea bags and refrigerate the tea until cold.

Make the Lemonade:
In a nonreactive glass jar, combine the Simple Syrup (or the honey syrup) and the lemon juice. Refrigerated until cold.

Make the Bourbon Arnold Palmer:
Fill a large glass with ice and fill halfway with tea. Fill almost halfway with the lemonade. Add a splash (or two) of bourbon and stir. Serve immediately.

Makes about 6 to 8 drinks.