Despite its name, the Long Island Iced Tea doesn’t actually have any tea in it. Rather, the notoriously high-ABV co*cktail is named after its likeness to the non-alcoholic lunch-time sipper (iced tea, that is). Perhaps one of the strongest co*cktails on a bar menu, the Long Island Iced Tea contains a whopping four spirits and one liqueur. The boozy drink gets topped with a splash of brown cola, darkening the co*cktail enough to resemble amber-and-brown-hued iced tea.
While this co*cktail might be the cause of drunken college evenings and painful hungover mornings (and apologies, there’s no real cure for those), the co*cktail can be really delicious if quality ingredients are used. Made with a combination of vodka, white rum, silver tequila, gin, triple sec (or orange liqueur), simple syrup, cola, and if you’re feeling fancy, some lemon juice, the Long Island Iced Tea is a potent co*cktail filled with a range of flavors. The base of the spirits alone range from agave to potatoes, grains, and sugarcane, but the flavors blend in a mysteriously delicious way. The drink is lightly sweet with a gentle cola flavor, and with the addition of lemon juice, can have a nice balance of acid. Often served in a highball, or potentially more often a clear plastic cup and a straw, this co*cktail benefits from a hefty serving of ice.
Like many iconic co*cktails, the Long Island Iced Tea has two dueling origin stories. The first takes place on Long Island in New York, the stretch of land that hugs the Connecticut shoreline. The co*cktail is said to have been invented in 1971 by a Long Island-based bartender for a drinks competition. The other story dates back to Prohibition — a co*cktail area known for notoriously high-proof drinks—where it was invented by residents in Kingston, Tennessee in a community called Long Island.
No matter its origins, this classic co*cktail is one to remember — or, well, to at least try to remember. Add a big lemon wedge for some high-end flare and sip a Long Island Iced Tea with ease, and potentially some caution, too. Cheers!
