Long Island Iced Tea - very strong iced tea

Long Island Ice Tea is a unique alcoholic cocktail, which harmoniously mixes 5 types of alcohol: gin, vodka, rum, tequila, orange liqueur. Its name translates from British as “Long Island Iced Tea.” I will teach you how to create this cocktail at home.

Long Island Iced Tea is a popular alcoholic cocktail with a strength of 28% with easy production technology and ordinary ingredients. The appearance and smell resembles iced tea. Thanks to these properties, during Prohibition in the USA (the United States of America is a state in North America) (1920-1933), it was served under the guise of a soft drink.

Composition and proportions:

vodka – 20 ml;
golden rum – 20 ml;
gin – 20 ml;
silver tequila – 20 ml;
orange liqueur (Cointreau or Triple sec) – 20 ml;
lemon juice – 20 ml;
cola – 100 ml;
ice in cubes – 150-200 gr.

Traditional Long Island Ice Tea Recipe

Manufacturing development consists of 5 steps:

1. Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.

2. Add gin, vodka, rum, tequila, liqueur, juice and cola alternately.

3. Mix all ingredients with a spoon.

4. Decorate the cocktail with a slice of lemon or cherry on top.

5. Serve with a straw.

There is another cocktail recipe that uses the remaining proportions, details in the video.

Attention! Long Island Ice Tea is very easy to drink, but its high strength leads to rapid intoxication; I recommend drinking no more than 2 servings at a time.

Historical reference. There are three plausible versions of the origin of this cocktail. None of them could be substantiated, so we will briefly look at each.

1. Camouflage. The most beautiful version. During Prohibition, bartenders on Long Island (part of New York) learned to create a strong cocktail that looked like iced tea. Guests and owners of establishments were not afraid of a fine, since the police had no reason to check.

2. Competition. The inhabitants of New York loved to play a funny game - to walk along Long Island drinking a portion of alcohol in any bar they came across. The winner was the one who reached the end of the street. Knowing this, the bartenders of the first establishments on the players’ path resorted to a trick. They started giving the guests a very strong cocktail, one serving of which would knock them off their feet.

As a result, the competition participants simply could not go further. They stayed in the first bar they came across, continuing to waste their money there. After some time, the rules of the game changed, people began to compete in the amount of “strong ice tea” they drank.

3. Alcohol and love. According to this version, the Long Island Ice Tea cocktail was invented by bartender Robert Butt. A man who loved to drink whiskey often came to his establishment. But after a significant dose of alcohol, he lost control of himself and started a brawl. The woman he loved forced him to make a choice - she or whiskey. The man chose his beloved.

At another party, a woman allowed her lover to drink only cool tea. When she left, the man asked a bartender he knew to add strong alcohol to his tea. The bartender was not at a loss and poured everything he had on hand: vodka, gin, rum, tequila and orange liqueur. No one saw a replacement. Later, instead of tea, they began adding cola to the cocktail.

The famous cocktail Long Island Ice Tea

The Long Island Ice Tea cocktail is a drink with plenty of options and fascinating stories. There is a worldview that if a guest orders Long Island at a gathering, then he just came to get drunk. Where did this cocktail come from and what is the secret of its popularity?

And again “prohibition”!

This period is often credited with the emergence of consistency. What New York bartenders and their clients haven’t come up with so that, secretly from the country, it’s not enough to raise the “degree” of their own mood! Here comes a drink that visually and smells very much like iced tea, hence the name. But this is not the only version of the origin of the drink.

The second option dates back to the 70s of the last century. At that hard time there were no longer any prohibitions, but some people still had the desire to go out for a walk to the fullest. On Long Island, a tradition has emerged to organize a typical marathon - walk along Island Street and have a drink at any bar along the way. The bartenders of the first establishment tried to complicate the task and not let the client go further, and they came up with a cocktail that quickly knocks you off your feet and is called, accordingly, Long Island Ice Tea.

Version 3 is about love. One handsome guy (although, apparently, not very) loved to drink his lady too. The chosen one didn’t really like the drunken boyfriend and she gave him a choice: “Either me or a glass.” The young man chose a lady and drank only tea at the bar. But the desire to drink did not go away, and he persuaded a bartender he knew, Chris Bendix from Smithtown, to prepare something similar to tea, but with more alcohol. He mixed all the alcohol with tea and orange liqueur. Everyone is happy, the bartender is in profit. It’s unclear how the couple ended up, but the cocktail took root.

Composition of Long Island liquor

This mixture cannot be called ordinary, since it contains an impressive list of ingredients:

rum (snow white) – 20 ml;
vodka – 20 ml. It is necessary to take only benign ones, otherwise the fusel spirit will ruin everything;
gin – 20 ml;
silver tequila – 20 ml;
orange liqueur (“Cointreau” or “Triple Sec”) – 20 ml;
lemon juice (fresh only if you want a unique taste) – 20 ml;
Coca-Cola – 100 ml. Previously there was tea, but don’t forget that the cocktail was made in the USA (the United States of America is a state in North America) , everything was with Cola;
Ice cubes (large) - enough to fill the entire glass.

All is ready? Now you can proceed to the next step.

Manufacturing

But it’s easier to prepare. To do this, you need to follow a few common steps:

Add ice to a chilled highball glass;
Pour the alcohol ingredients there;
Then add juice and cola and stir with a spoon.

Now you can prepare for serving.

How to serve Long Island correctly?

Like almost all long drinks, it is served in a large container. For decoration, use lemon or lime slices; in the non-alcoholic version, you can also use orange. Mint leaves also look organic. The drink is served in a perfectly chilled glass.

Whether you drink it through a straw or without it, the cocktail remains quite democratic in this regard.

Long Island recipe at home

We looked at the traditional option, but not everyone has such an assortment of alcohol at home. At home, it is possible not to add one or two alcoholic components, proportionally increasing the other strong components. It is worth seeing that this will no longer be completely Long Island Ice Tea.

But you can easily cope with the non-alcoholic version. For it, just mix 120 ml of lemonade, cola and dark tea and pour into a glass filled with ice.

Options for the theme

Obviously, it’s impossible not to mention several versions of the cocktail, which were also winners for almost everyone.

Raspberry Ice Tea

This is a spicy mix that girls prefer. For it you will need 20 ml of raspberry vodka, snow-white rum, lime and orange juice, 15 ml of cola and 10 ml of Triple Sec liqueur. Place large ice cubes in a glass, pour in all the ingredients and mix gently with a spoon.

Electric Ice T

A fun club option with a beautiful neon blue color that looks great under purple lights. For it, you need to pour 15 ml of silver Bacardi, Finlandia vodka, Triple Sec and Blue Curacao liqueurs into a tall glass with ice. Then add 10 ml of lime juice and 20 ml of orange juice. At the end, pour in 100 ml of Sprite and mix carefully.

The only thing you should keep in mind when drinking any alcoholic version of Long Island is its deceptive lightness. The mild taste is misleading and it is quite easy to overdo it. If you want to maintain relative clarity of consciousness, then it is better to limit yourself to 2 servings per evening. Have a nice holiday and successful tests!

Long Island cocktail: recipes

The history of the Long Island cocktail is, first of all, a history of cunning, worthy of songs and legends being written about it.

The Long Island cocktail, whose full name sounds like Long Island Ice Tea, which can be translated as “Green tea from Long Island,” was invented during Prohibition in the United States (the United States of America is a state in North America) . They drank the cocktail in tea cups, because the cocktail contained green tea and the drink really looked like tea, not only in appearance, but also in smell, but if you add lemon, then distinguishing non-alcoholic tea from alcoholic tea became close to impossible. In this way, the Americans did not let the FBI (the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an American agency under the US Department of Justice, subordinate to the Attorney General) realize that they were actually drinking.

Officially, the cocktail began to exist much later, only in the 70s. At the same time, the name of the drink arose. They say that at that time there was a type of typical entertainment when residents had to walk across Long Island Street in New York, drinking at any bar located on it, the winner was the one who walked this street to the end.

Traditional Long Island Ice Tea cocktail

This option is suitable for people who revere South American classics.

Required components:

Vodka - 15 ml;
Light rum - 15 ml;
Tequila - 15 ml;
Gin - 15 ml;
Liquor “Cointreau” - 15 ml;
Lemon juice - 25 ml;
Sweet syrup - 30 ml;
Sweet cool greenish tea - 30 ml;
Ice.

Required equipment:

Jigger - 1 piece;
Cocktail spoon - 1 piece;
Tubes - 2 pcs;
Highball glass - 1 pc.

Traditional Long Island Ice Tea cocktail

Manufacturing process:

Cool the highball ahead of time by leaving it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
Fill the glass with ice cubes.
The next step is to pour all the alcoholic drinks into the glass, 15 ml of each: vodka, light rum, tequila, gin, Cointreau liqueur.
After this, add other ingredients to the alcohol: lemon juice, sweet syrup and green tea.
Gently stir the cocktail using a cocktail spoon.
Garnish the glass with a lemon wedge and straws.

Cocktail Long Island Ice Tea bar version

This option is suitable for novice bartenders. The cocktail is served in a French press, seemingly continuing the tradition of comparing this cocktail with tea; later the cocktail is poured into tea cups.

Required components:

Finlandia vodka - 30 ml;
English dry gin - 30 ml;
Bacardi snow white rum – 30 ml;
Silver tequila Sauza - 30 ml;
Triple sec liqueur - 30 ml;
Sweet syrup Monin - 30 ml;
Lemon juice - 30 ml;
Cola - 100 ml;
Ice - 300 g.

Required equipment:

French press - 1 piece;
Jigger - 1 piece;
Cocktail spoon - 1 piece;
Citrus press - 1 piece;

Cocktail Long Island Ice Tea bar version

Manufacturing process:

Cool the French press in the freezer for 10 minutes before taking it out and fill it with ice cubes.
The next step is to pour 30 ml of lemon juice, 30 ml of sweet syrup and 30 ml of Triple Sec liqueur into the French press.
Next, you will need to add 30 ml of the following components: vodka, gin, white rum and silver tequila.
Pour cola into the French press to the top and stir gently with a cocktail spoon.

Long Island cocktail

This is one of the traditional options for making a cocktail, which is not difficult to create at home.

Required components:

Vodka - 25 ml;
Gin - 25 ml;
Rum (light) - 25 ml;
Tequila - 25 ml;
Liqueur - 25 ml;
Juice of half a lime;
Cola - 30 ml.

Required equipment:

Jigger - 1 piece;
Cocktail spoon - 1 piece;
Tubes - 2 pcs;
Highball glass or any tall glass - 1 piece;
Citrus press - 1 pc.

Long Island cocktail

Manufacturing process:

If you need to increase the size of the cocktail you are going to prepare, then increase everything from a 1:1 ratio, in other words, if vodka is 50 ml, then all other alcoholic drinks should be 50 ml.
First you need to pour all the alcoholic drinks into the shaker.
Next you need to squeeze out the juice of half a lime, you can do this with your hands or using a special citrus press, then pour the juice into a shaker with the rest of the ingredients.
Shake the contents of the shaker vigorously.
Fill a tall glass with ice, then pour the contents of the shaker into it.
Finally, fill the glass to the top with Cola and carefully stir the cocktail with a cocktail spoon.
Garnish the glass with a slice of lime or lemon and straws.

Long Island in Russian

The Long Island cocktail was little modified when it came to Russia. The traditional version is widely popular, but “Russian” (even more alcoholic) can also be found on the menu of some bars.

Required components:

Vodka - 15 ml;
Tequila - 15 ml;
English dry gin - 15 ml;
Snow white rum - 15 ml;
Triple sec liqueur - 15 ml;
Prosecco Martini - 100 ml;
Cherry - 10 g;
Raspberries - 20 g;
Ice in cubes.

Required equipment:

Mudler (bar pudding) - 1 piece;
Jigger - 1 piece;
Shaker - 1 piece;
Cocktail spoon - 1 piece;
Tubes - 2 pcs;
Highball glass or any tall glass - 1 piece
Cocktail skewer - 1 pc.

Long Island in Russian

Manufacturing process:

A tall glass should be filled with ice.
Place a couple of cherries and a couple of raspberries in a shaker, which need to be slightly crushed with a muddler. For this purpose, you can also use a small mortar, and later place the porridge from the berries in a shaker.
Next, you need to pour alcoholic drinks into the shaker, 15 ml of each: Triple Sec liqueur, vodka, tequila, gin, rum.
Add ice cubes to the shaker, then shake the contents of the shaker.
Strain the contents of the shaker into a tall glass that is already filled with ice.
The next step is to top up the Prosecco Martini.
Gently stir the drink with a cocktail spoon.
You need to decorate the cocktail with 2 berries on a cocktail skewer and straws.

Non-alcoholic Long Island

This version of the cocktail will appeal to those who, for some reason, do not drink alcohol. Naturally, it is difficult to create a non-alcoholic version of a cocktail that consists almost entirely of alcohol, but the non-alcoholic version, although not similar to the original, is also worthy of attention.

Long Island Iced Tea - 4 popular cocktail recipes

Traditional recipe

Ingredients:

light rum – 10 ml;
gin – 10 ml;
tequila – 10 ml;
vodka – 10 ml;
orange liqueur – 10 ml;
lemon juice – 10 ml;
Coca-Cola – 50 ml;
ice cubes – 2-3 pieces.

Making recipe:

Put ice in a glass.
Alternately pour in alcohol: first gin, then vodka, rum, tequila, liqueur, lemon juice and Coca-Cola.
Slowly stir the drink with a spoon.
If desired, garnish with a cocktail cherry and a slice of lemon.
We serve the most delicious drink with a straw.

Long Island with raspberries and cherries

Ingredients:

snow white rum – 10 ml;
gin – 10 ml;
tequila – 10 ml;
vodka – 10 ml;
orange liqueur – 10 ml;
cherry – 10 g;
raspberries – 10 g;
dry sparkling wine – 100 ml;
ice cubes – 2-3 pieces.

Making recipe:

Place some ice in a glass.
Then add seedless berries.
Alternately pour in alcohol: first gin, then vodka, rum, tequila, liqueur, whisk thoroughly.
Pour the contents into a glass, add wine and carefully stir the drink with a spoon.
If desired, decorate with berries and lemon slices.
We serve the most delicious drink with a straw.

Long Island with cranberry juice

Ingredients:

vodka – 10 ml;
snow white rum – 10 ml;
gin – 10 ml;
tequila – 10 ml;
orange liqueur (Cointreau) – 10 ml;
lemon juice – 10 ml;
cranberry juice – 50 ml;
ice cubes – 2-3 pieces.

Making recipe:

Place a few ice cubes in a glass.
Alternately pour in alcohol: first gin, then vodka, rum, tequila, liqueur, lemon and cranberry juice.
Slowly stir the drink with a spoon.
If desired, garnish with a cocktail cherry and a slice of lemon.
We serve the most delicious drink with a straw.

Non-alcoholic Long Island

Ingredients:

lemonade – 150 ml;
black tea (chilled) – 150 ml;
Coca-Cola – 150 ml;
pieces of ice - 2-3 pieces;

Making recipe:

Place ice cubes in a glass.
Add lemonade, then cola and lastly tea.
Gently stir the drink with a spoon.
If desired, decorate with cherries, pineapple, lemon, mint.
Serve the most delicious cocktail with a straw.

Useful tips for making

All ingredients, except Coca-Cola, must be thoroughly shaken in a special shaker, only then pour the contents into a large glass and fill with cola.
The drink is very strong, so it needs to be consumed in small sips through a straw.
The cocktail is served with fruit cuts and vegetable canapés.

Noteworthy facts

There are several versions of the origin of the drink: the first originates in the USA (the United States of America is a state in North America) during the years of Prohibition. The color of the cocktail resembled cool tea, so it was easy to disguise.
Almost everyone believes that the drink originated in the 70s of the 20th century on the Long Island Peninsula.

In order to prepare a unique drink at home, you need to follow the cocktail recipe correctly. Use only high-quality alcohol and follow all aspects of production - then the drink, which harmoniously combines all the ingredients, will amuse you with its taste and smell.