A Long Island iced tea or Long Island ice tea is a type of
cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
typically made with
vodka,
tequila,
light rum,
triple sec,
gin
Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis'').
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...
, and a splash of
cola, which gives the drink the same amber hue as
iced tea.
The drink has a much higher
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
concentration (approximately 22 percent)
than most
highball drinks due to the relatively small amount of
mixer.
Origin
There are two competing origin stories for the Long Island iced tea, one from
Long Island, Tennessee and one from
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
.
Robert "Rosebud" Butt claims to have invented the Long Island iced tea as an entry in a contest to create a new mixed drink with triple sec in 1972 while he worked at the
Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York.
A slightly different drink is claimed to have been invented in the 1920s during
Prohibition in the United States
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...
by an "Old Man Bishop" in a local community named Long Island in
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, w ...
.
The drink was then tweaked by Ransom Bishop, Old Man Bishop's son, by adding cola, lemon, and lime. Old Man's version included
whiskey,
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
, varied quantities of the five liquors, and no triple sec, rather than the modern one with cola and five equal portions of the five liquors. It was prepared in the following way:
* Squeeze a fresh lemon and a fresh lime into a glass
* Add rum, oz. gin, oz tequila, vodka, 1 oz. whiskey, and oz. maple syrup
* Mix, then add of cola
While some sources say there was a recipe for Long Island iced tea in the 1961 edition of ''Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book'',
no such recipe can actually be found there.
Reception
The cocktail has been criticized for its large number of ingredients, making it cumbersome to prepare in busy bars. It is considered a favorite of university students in the United States and it has thus garnered negative connotations as "an act of mixological atrocity favored by college students and wastrels", in the words of one food critic.
The drink is a polarizing choice between bartenders, with some favoring the drink and others disliking it. However, the variety of spirits needed to prepare the drink also mean that one can prepare many other types of cocktails if they have the ingredients for a Long Island already.
The cocktail's flavor has been described as "bright and refreshing".
It is easy to drink,
making it "dangerously
boozy".
Recipes and variations
The
International Bartenders Association (IBA)'s recipe calls for equal parts vodka, tequila, white rum, cointreau, gin, 2 parts lemon juice, syrup topped with cola. After
stirring gently, the drink may also be garnished with a
lemon slice.
Robert Butt's recipe uses
sour mix instead of lemon juice and simple syrup, and he has stated that only a small amount of Coke is used, to give color.
A more complex recipe published by ''
The New York Times'' differs from the IBA recipe in that it uses
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
instead of simple syrup, uses both lemon and lime juice, and adds salt.
However, there are many similar cocktails due to the popularity of the cocktail and the large number of ingredients that can be substituted with alternatives.
Some variations include:
* Adios motherfucker or AMF (also known as Boston tea party) is considered a variation of the Long Island iced tea with
blue curaçao
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obse ...
substituting for the triple sec, and with lemon-lime soda substituting for the cola.
* Grateful Dead (also known as the black widow), which uses the same mix as a Long Island but the triple sec is replaced with raspberry liqueur and the cola with lemon-lime soda.
* Hawaiian iced tea is made by replacing the cola with
pineapple juice.
* If
cranberry juice is substituted for cola, the result is a Long Beach iced tea.
* If
Midori is substituted in for the triple sec and lemon-lime soda replaces the Coca-Cola the result is a Tokyo iced tea, and has a greenish color.
* Tennessee tea replaces the gin with
Tennessee whiskey and does not use tequila.
* Texas tea is created by adding
whiskey.
References
External links
*
{{IBACocktails
Cocktails with gin
Cocktails with rum
Cocktails with tequila
Cocktails with triple sec or curaçao
Cocktails with vodka
Cocktails with cola
Cocktails with lemon juice