News // The story of how Arnold Palmer Iced Tea became a hit (golfweek.usatoday.com)

ORLANDO – Chris Byrd wouldn’t be caught dead littering, but he freely admits that any time he sees an empty can of Arnold Palmer Half & Half a smile immediately comes to his face.

“There goes another few pennies for me,” he said.

On Friday, Byrd, 72, celebrated the 20th anniversary of striking a deal with AriZona Beverage, the No. 1 selling iced tea maker, to market the Arnold Palmer brand of half iced tea, half lemonade, which became one of the fastest-growing beverages in the U.S. How big, you ask?

“We’re selling the equivalent of a million cans a day,” Byrd said.

As the story goes, Palmer conceived the idea of mixing these two refreshing drinks together one day long ago to his first wife, Winnie.

“My wife made a lot of iced tea for lunch, and I said, ‘Hey, babe, I’ve got an idea. You make the iced tea and make a big pitcher, and we’ll just put a little lemonade in it and see how that works.’ We mixed it up, and I got the solution about where I wanted it…