| Iba: | yes |
| Long Island Iced Tea | |
| Sourcelink: | long-island-ice-tea |
| Type: | cocktail |
| Flaming: | no |
| Vodka: | yes |
| Tequila: | yes |
| Rum: | yes |
| Gin: | yes |
| Served: | rocks |
| Garnish: | lemon slice (optional) |
| Drinkware: | highball |
| Ingredients: | |
| Prep: | Add all ingredients into highball glass filled with ice. Stir gently. Optionally garnish with lemon slice.[1] |
The Long Island iced tea, or Long Island ice tea, is an IBA official cocktail, typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola. Despite its name, the cocktail does not typically contain iced tea, but is named for having the same amber hue as iced tea.
The drink has a much higher alcohol concentration (approximately 22 percent)[2] than most highball drinks due to the relatively small amount of mixer.
There are two competing origin stories for the Long Island iced tea, one from Long Island, Tennessee, and one from Long Island, New York.
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.[3] [4] [5]
A slightly different drink is claimed to have been invented in the 1920s during Prohibition in the United States by an "Old Man Bishop" in a local community named Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee.[6] 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, 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:[7]
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,[2] no such recipe can actually be found there.[8]
The cocktail has been criticized for its large number of ingredients, making it cumbersome to prepare in busy bars.[9] 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.[10]
The drink is a polarizing choice between bartenders, with some favoring the drink and others disliking it.[11] However, the variety of spirits needed to prepare the drink also means that one can prepare many other types of cocktails if they have the ingredients for a Long Island already.[12]
The cocktail's flavor has been described as "bright and refreshing".[13] It is easy to drink,[2] making it "dangerously boozy".[14]
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 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: