Leave your jaded impressions of Long Island Iced Tea behind. Not only is the potent potable popular with 20-somethings looking for a quick buzz, but it tastes great if you’re in your 30s or beyond.
If you have a Long Island Iced Tea story, it probably has a happy start and a funny yet embarrassing (at the time) ending. It’s not that the Long Island Iced Tea is a bad drink. The problem arises from the summer sipper’s pleasant drinkability. In other words, some people underestimate the intoxication potential of the cocktail’s alcohol-heavy ingredient list.
The good news is that you can now create a new Long Island Iced Tea story when you craft the classic cocktail at home. And this story’s ending will likely be just as happy as its beginning.
Discover more refreshing summertime sippers.
What Is Long Island Iced Tea?
Long Island Iced Tea is one of the strongest classic cocktails we’ve ever crafted. It’s also a cocktail with a misleading name since tea isn’t one of its many ingredients. Instead, its recipe includes five different liquors (gin, rum, tequila, triple sec and vodka in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio) plus freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup and cola.
It’s the kind of drink in which a little bit goes a long way. In other words, if you choose to imbibe Long Island Iced Tea at the bar, you’ll want to leave your car keys at home and take a cab or Uber home at the end of the night. Better yet – drink Long Island Iced Tea at home!
Fun Fact
Long Island Iced Tea got its name based on its appearance which happens to resemble iced tea.
History of the Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail
While the Long Island Iced Tea cocktail’s classic recipe doesn’t include tea, iced or otherwise, its history most likely started in Long Island. However, cocktail historians don’t agree on when and where that actually occurred.
Some historians attribute the cocktail’s creation to a bartender in New York’s Long Island during the 1970s while others go back further to prohibition-era bartenders in Tennessee’s Long Island during the 1920s.
Regardless of when and where the first Long Island Iced Tea debuted, there’s no debate that the sweet cocktail packs a potent punch – especially when it’s served in jumbo pint glasses or in crowd pleasing pitchers.
