This 2-Ingredient Cocktail Is The Labor Day Drink You Deserve

Say farewell to summer with this super-Southern sipper.

Southern Living Spiked Arnold Palmer in glasses to serve
Photo:

Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel

I can’t believe it’s finally here—the tail end of summer. While I’m happy for the teasingly cooler mornings, I’m always a little sad to say goodbye to the inherent freedom of summer days.

To help you cope with summer’s passing, please enjoy this simplest of cocktails, born of a weekend on the lagoon at Fort Morgan, Alabama, with friends—trying to do as little as possible for as long as we could. Along the way, we stumbled upon this simple but seasonally perfect cocktail. Here’s how you make it.

Perfect Southern Sweet Tea
Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist Christine Keely

Step 1: Make Your Favorite Sweet Tea

If you’re Southern (and even if you’re not), chances are you already have a pitcher of sweet tea on the kitchen counter. If so, congratulations—you’re halfway there! If not, fire up the kettle and use this sweet tea recipe. The baking soda in the recipe is entirely up to you!

Texas Margarita rimmed with salt and topped with a lemon

Will Dickey

Step 2: Make Your Favorite Margarita

You can’t let summer escape without at least one more margarita. Everyone has their own version they like best, so pick your favorite recipe, and make a big batch. I’m a sucker for a good Texas Margarita, but our Tailgate Margaritas are a close second.

Be sure to use a good mix and fresh citrus juice—Natalie’s won first place in a recent blind Southern Living taste-test, by the way.

Southern Living Spiked Arnold Palmer in glasses to serve

Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel

Step 3: Make Your First Palmerita

So we all know that an Arnold Palmer is a non-alcoholic mixture of tea and lemonade. That’s lovely. But you know what’s better? An Arnold-Palmerita.

How To Make A Palmerita:

Combine equal parts sweet tea and margarita in a tall, generously iced glass. Garnish with lemon or lime slices and enjoy the easy-drinking beverage you deserve this weekend.

Why I Love Palmeritas

I adore this drink for several reasons. First off, the flavor—I love a margarita, but the tartness wears me out. The tea—sweet or unsweetened—tames the tang. But the real reason I love it is because it’s more gentle.

As I get older, I still want to have a good time, but my body has other ideas. This super-Southern cocktail stars just enough tequila to make you feel like you're breaking the rules, without getting into trouble. And for me, that’s a pretty good place to be.

Please enjoy your Palmeritas responsibly, and have a fun and safe Labor Day!

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