The Lazy Minty Arnold Palmer

All the way back in May, (see I'm really behind!), I hosted a Memorial Weekend BBQ. A couple days beforehand, I spent an afternoon in the backyard of Nita Nita enjoying a few drinks. My drink partner ordered an Arnold Palmer - a mix of bourbon, lemonade, and iced tea on the rocks - that was perfectly refreshing for the hot summer afternoon. Then we saw the bartender come out and snip off some sprigs of mint from one of the many herb planters in Nita Nita's backyard for someone else's drink. Guerilla-style, we went and picked off some mint of his own to add to the Arnold Palmer, which transformed it from just good into total perfection.

So inspired, I cooked up a similar cocktail for our party, except instead of making lemonade, which would have been too much work, I just used iced tea as the mixer and added a squeeze of a wedge of lemon to each drink. I made cold brewed mint-infused iced tea for the occasion by steeping black tea in growlers of water in the fridge overnight, straining out the tea leaves in the morning and adding chopped fresh mint leaves.

I - and my guests - enjoyed the drink so much that we made it again for our Fourth of July BBQ. Do you have a favorite summer cocktail?

The Lazy Minty Arnold Palmer
1 part bourbon
1.5 parts mint-infused iced tea
ice cubes
1 wedge of lemon
1 sprig of mint

Pour ingredients into a cocktail glass and stir. Squeeze in the wedge of lemon and add to the glass with mint.