Instructions
Mix Ingredients:
- In a glass filled with ice, combine 1 oz of vodka, 1 oz of tequila, 1 oz of rum, 1 oz of gin, 1 oz of triple sec, and 1 oz of sours.
Shake:
- Pour the mixture into a shaker and give it one brisk shake.
Serve:
- Pour the mixture back into the glass and top with a splash of cola, ensuring there is a touch of fizz at the top.
Garnish:
- Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Enjoy:
- Serve immediately and enjoy your refreshing Long Island Iced Tea.
Video
Notes
Estimated Nutrition:
Where it came from
The modern Long Island Iced Tea was invented in 1972 at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York, by bartender Robert 'Rosebud' Butt. Butt entered a cocktail competition with the brief ‘use triple sec’. He used five spirits, lemon, cola, called it iced tea because of the colour. He won.
The drink became a cultural shorthand for cheap-and-strong by the 1980s and 1990s. Bars served them oversized; college students drank them in volume; sales of cola spiked. The recipe is genuinely good when made properly, the problem is that it's rarely made properly.
Why it tastes like iced tea
It's the citrus, sugar, and cola combination that creates the iced-tea illusion. Cola has tannic notes from kola nuts and caramel; lemon and sugar mimic the sweet-tart balance of brewed tea; the spirits add the body. The eye sees brown, the brain expects tea, the mouth is fooled.
Make the drink with diet cola or with white rum only and the iced-tea illusion disappears. The colour, the sugar, and the five-spirit weight are all required for the trick to work.
The proper proportions
Most bars over-pour the spirits and under-pour the cola, which makes the drink taste harsh and one-dimensional. Proper spec is 15ml each of vodka, gin, rum, tequila, totalling 60ml of spirit, plus 15ml triple sec, 22ml lemon, 15ml simple syrup, topped with cola to fill.
The drink should be cola-forward with the spirits as a base, not a spirit bomb with cola as a token mixer. If your Long Island tastes purely of alcohol, you used too much spirit and not enough cola.
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Ingredient Spotlight
The bottles that make or break this drink.
The five spirits
- Use
- Equal parts vodka, gin, white rum, silver tequila, plus triple sec
- Skip
- Coloured spirits (gold rum, dark tequila, bourbon)
- Why
- Clear spirits keep the iced-tea colour. Coloured spirits muddy the drink.
The cola
- Use
- Coca-Cola or Pepsi (full sugar)
- Skip
- Diet cola (no sugar to balance the lemon)
- Why
- Sugar is half the iced-tea illusion. Diet cola breaks it.
The lemon
- Use
- Fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- Skip
- Bottled lemon juice (tastes flat)
- Why
- Without bright fresh acid, the drink is just sweet alcohol.
Variations
Other long drinks and 1970s classics worth pouring.
What if I don't have…
Quick substitutions for when the bottle shop is closed.
Skip it, the drink will be slightly less interesting but still recognisably a Long Island. Don't double up on another spirit.
Cointreau works (better, actually). Grand Marnier works too. Avoid skipping it, the orange is part of the iced-tea flavour.
Lime works but changes the character. Bottled lemon is the worst option but works in a pinch.
Don't. The recipe is already 60ml of spirit before the triple sec. Adding more turns it into a punishment.
Use blue curacao instead of triple sec for a Blue Long Island. Use cranberry instead of cola for a Long Beach Iced Tea.
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers to what people search for after Googling this drink.
What is in a Long Island Iced Tea?
A Long Island Iced Tea is vodka, gin, white rum, silver tequila, triple sec, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and cola, over ice in a tall glass. Standard build is 15ml each of the four base spirits, 15ml triple sec, 22ml lemon, 15ml simple syrup, topped with cola.
Why is it called Long Island Iced Tea?
It was invented at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York, in 1972 by bartender Robert 'Rosebud' Butt. The cola gives the drink the colour of brewed iced tea, and the lemon-sugar mimics the flavour. The name is the visual joke.
How strong is a Long Island Iced Tea?
About 22% ABV in the glass. 60ml of base spirit plus 15ml triple sec is roughly 27ml of pure alcohol, equivalent to about three standard drinks per cocktail. They go down faster than they should because the cola masks the alcohol.
Why does it taste like iced tea?
Cola has tannins from kola nuts and caramel that mimic brewed tea's body. Lemon and sugar replicate the sweet-tart balance of sweetened tea. The combination fools the eye and the palate. Diet cola breaks the illusion because the sugar is missing.
How do you make a Long Island Iced Tea?
Fill a tall highball or hurricane glass with ice. Add 15ml each of vodka, gin, white rum, silver tequila. Add 15ml triple sec, 22ml fresh lemon juice, 15ml simple syrup. Top with cola (about 90-120ml). Stir gently. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Can I substitute one of the spirits?
Yes, but the drink is designed around the four-spirit base. Skipping tequila is the most acceptable substitution; skipping vodka or rum changes the character meaningfully. The triple sec is non-negotiable.
What's the difference between Long Island and Long Beach Iced Tea?
Long Beach uses cranberry juice instead of cola. Pink in colour, slightly less sweet, more tart. Same base spirits.
Should I shake or build the drink?
Build in the glass over ice. Shaking breaks down the cola and you lose the carbonation that makes the drink work. Some bars shake the spirits-and-citrus first, then top with cola in the glass, that's acceptable but unnecessary.
What food pairs with a Long Island Iced Tea?
Bar food. Burgers, wings, fries, pizza. The drink is heavy on alcohol, sweet, and casual. Don't pair with steak or fine dining.
Why do bars charge so much for them?
Five spirits, 60ml of base alcohol, plus a mixer and citrus. The pour cost is roughly 3x a single-spirit cocktail. Bars price accordingly.
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