The new cocktails keep coming out of the basement laboratory. The latest, Lee Trevino, is another quaffable, easy-drinking option (alongside SPF 2020 and old standby the Comal Swizzle), inspired by rival golfer Arnold Palmer’s namesake concoction (half lemonade/half iced tea), and the related “John Daly”, which is an Arnold Palmer plus vodka.
The initial idea came from chef Matt, who suggested a tequila-based twist on the Arnold Palmer. The “lemonade” in the Lee Trevino is a complex affair, consisting of house-made Meyer lemon marmalade and fresh lemon juice. Add Cimarron blanco tequila infused with mango black tea and some Erdinger Weissbrau, shake on ice and serve tall – voila! It’s either a deconstructed tequila-based Arnold Palmer or a fortified Bavarian spring shandy, but either way it’s delicious.
For those of you who aren’t golf fans, Lee Trevino is a legendary Mexican American golfer who played his best golf in the seventies. He has won every significant tournament except the Masters and is also a very funny man. He once quipped, “I played the tour in 1967 and told jokes and nobody laughed. Then I won the Open the next year, told the same jokes, and everybody laughed like hell.” After he was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, Trevino was asked by a reporter what he would do if he were out on the course and it began to storm again. Trevino answered he would take out his 1 iron and point it to the sky, “Because not even God can hit the 1-iron.”
Probably my favorite Lee Trevino tidbit is that early in his career he wore a Band Aid to cover a tattoo of his ex-wife’s name.
JP (with input from MC)