CITRUS MANIA

By James Norton

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James Norton / Heavy Table/ File

I shelled out about $30 on oranges and lemons today, and I know that it was money well-spent. As we dive into the true dog days of summer, my family is drinking our house brand of Arnie Palmers at a frightening clip - roughly a pitcher a day. Two pitchers a day, when we have company.

I’ve written about this stuff before, but there’s no harm in trotting the method out again - this is one of the most refreshing, crowd-pleasing, downright beautiful summer beverages that you can make and drink. On ice, after mowing a lawn, it’s pretty much heaven on earth.

The method looks like this:

James Norton / Heavy Table

Norton-Palmer 

Juice 4 lemons and 2 oranges, and strain the juice to remove pulp and seeds. Add five cups water to the juice.

Brew loose leaf orange pekoe tea in a small pot (about 3 cups) and pour it hot over 1 cup of sugar - stir to dissolve. 

Cool tea, combine tea and citrus water in a big pitcher. 

Optional: Try a Jasmine Palmer! Brew it with jasmine tea, it’s also delicious - lighter and more floral. [1]

[1] EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re not shopping at a Russian market for your orange pekoe, you could consider going to an Indian market at getting loose leaf Lipton - it’s also quite lovely, and quite affordable. For Russian markets, I recommend SMAK or Minsk. For Indian, Fresh India.