History of the Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail
A Long Island bartender in New York named Robert Butt claims to have created the Long Island Iced Tea during a 1972 cocktail-crafting competition. Whether or not his claim holds true, the cocktail became wildly popular in the 1980s. Despite not having tea, it surprisingly tastes a little like tea.
People often believe that mixing spirits will lead to a worse hangover. This is a misconception.
Ultimately, your body identifies alcohol as alcohol, so as long as the spirits have all been distilled properly, the hangover should be more or less the same. Long Island Iced Teas are commonly made with cheap rail liquor, which is the real cause of those nasty hangovers.
How to Make a Long Island Ice Tea Cocktail
- You’ll need all of your clear liquors: vodka, gin, tequila, white rum, and triple sec.
- You’ll also need fresh lemon juice and Coca-Cola.
Bartender Tips
- The cheap rail liquor will lead to nasty hangovers, so it might be a better choice to make these for yourself at home with well-made spirits.
- While this cocktail is usually built, adding a splash of simple syrup and shaking everything but the coke can lead to a slightly better-tasting beverage.
- Be mindful of how strong these are, 2.5 oz of hard booze per cocktail adds up fast!
Variations
Electric Iced Tea is the most common Long Island variation, which swaps out the Triple Sec for Blue Curacao, and 7-UP for Coke.
Some cocktail bars have spun this into an Amaro Long Island, which follows the formula of keeping a ½ oz of 5 bitter Italian liqueurs.
