A Long Island Iced Tea is a type of alcoholic mixed drink typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola, which gives the drink the same amber hue as its namesake. It is so named because of the resemblance to the color of iced tea. A popular version mixes equal parts vodka, gin, rum, triple sec, with 1½ parts sour mix and a splash of cola.
Most variants use equal parts of the main liquors, but include a smaller amount of triple sec (or other orange-flavored liqueur). Close variants often replace the sour mix with lemon juice, replace the cola with diet cola or actual iced tea, or add white crème de menthe. Most variants do not include any tea.
The drink has a much higher alcohol concentration (approximately 22 percent) than most highball drinks due to the relatively small amount of mixer. Long islands can be ordered "extra long", which further increases the alcohol to mixer ratio.
Origin
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, by an "Old Man Bishop" in a local community named Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee. The drink was then perfected by Ransom Bishop, Old Man Bishop's son. This drink included whiskey and maple syrup, and varied quantities of the five liquors, rather than the modern one with cola and five equal portions of the five liquors.
References
External links
- Media related to Long Island Iced Tea at Wikimedia Commons
