Average
Spirit-forward & Sour
3 Minutes
Highball Glass
Ingredients
The Long Island Iced Tea is a cocktail notorious for the sheer number of spirits it contains. Vodka, light rum, gin, tequila blanco and triple sec, combined with lemon juice and a splash of cola – five very different spirits that somehow come together in perfect harmony.
Built directly in a highball glass over ice with no shaking or straining required, the Long Island Iced Tea is deceptively easy to make for a drink with such an impressive ingredient list. And despite its name, there’s not a drop of tea in sight.
Five spirits, one glass – ask anyone who’s had one, there’s quite simply no other cocktail like the Long Island Iced Tea.
How to Make a Long Island Iced Tea
Bar tools you’ll need
Jigger
Bar Spoon
Boston Shaker
Hawthorne Strainer
Knife
How to Mix
-
Use a Knife to cut a Lemon in half. Cut two Lemon Wheels and save them for garnishing later.
-
Use a Citrus Press to juice the Lemon, then pour the Lemon Juice into the smaller tin of your Boston Shaker.
-
Measure and pour Simple Syrup into the Shaker using a Jigger.
-
Measure and pour each spirit, one by one, into the Shaker.
-
Add Ice Cubes to the Shaker, connect the larger tin, and shake until chilled.
-
Fill a Highball Glass with Ice Cubes.
-
Use a Hawthorne Strainer to pour the cocktail into your Glass.
-
Top up with Cola.
-
Use a Bar Spoon to give everything a gentle stir.
A Long Island Iced Tea is a delicious, bold and ambitious cocktail containing no fewer than five spirits – vodka, rum, tequila, gin and triple sec – complemented by the tang of lemon juice and the subtle sweetness of cola, built in a highball glass over ice.
“You’d be surprised how well those five spirits blended together can be that palatable – it’s a refreshing-tasting drink,” says Ricardo ‘Rico’ Dynan, bartender and Absolut Global Brand Ambassador.
And he’s right. Despite containing no tea whatsoever, the Long Island Iced Tea does taste remarkably like one – the tart lemon juice and sweet cola pulling everything into a surprisingly cohesive whole.
The Long Island Iced Tea has an origin that’s the subject of several competing stories.
One credits a bartender on Long Island, New York in 1972 who entered the drink into a contest to create a new mixed drink using triple sec. Another places its invention during Prohibition in the 1920s, where it was reportedly served in a speakeasy disguised to look like iced tea, hence the name.
Either way, the Long Island Iced Tea remained a relative secret until the early 1970s, when it was crowned the unofficial drink of summer and went on to become one of the most ordered cocktails in the world. A reputation it has never relinquished.
The Long Island Iced Tea has inspired its fair share of variations. So, what are the 4 types of Long Island Iced Tea?
- Rico’s version
Firstly, in the video, you’ll see Rico makes a slightly different version, half a part of each spirit with the addition of simple syrup. Same five spirits, just mixed differently. - Hawaiian Iced Tea
Swap the cola for pineapple juice and you have a Hawaiian Iced Tea – fruity, tropical and a natural evolution of the original. - Texas Tea
Add whiskey to the mix and you have a Texas Tea – bolder and with an extra layer of complexity that the whiskey brings naturally. - Long Beach Iced Tea
Substitute the cola for cranberry juice for a Long Beach Iced Tea – fruitier and with a tart edge that makes it feel like a different drink entirely. - Boston Tea Party
Ever wondered if you can you make a Long Island Iced Tea without triple sec? Yes, you can…but then it’s no longer a Long Island Iced Tea. If you use blue curaçao instead of triple sec, and lemon-lime soda instead of cola, you’ve got a Boston Tea Party cocktail.
- Glassware
The Long Island Iced Tea is traditionally served in a highball glass…but we prefer a rocks glass. It gives you more control over temperature and dilution and makes for a more manageable drink. Here’s a guide to cocktail glassware. - Citrus garnish
A lemon wheel on the rim is the classic choice for a Long Island Iced Tea – the citrus aroma complements the blend of spirits naturally. A lime wedge or orange slice works just as well. With a drink like this, you can’t go wrong with citrus.
You’d be surprised how well those five spirits blended together can be that palatable but it’s a refreshing-tasting drink!
Bartender and Global Brand Ambassador
Long Island Iced Tea FAQ
The Long Island Iced Tea gets its name from its appearance, not its ingredients – it contains no tea at all. The deep amber color closely resembles a glass of iced tea, which is how the drink earned the “Iced Tea” half of its name. The “Long Island” half traces to the cocktail’s 1972 origin story on Long Island, New York..
Traditionally, it’s a stirred cocktail. However, we prefer to shake them using a Cocktail Shaker. The shaking introduces a bunch of air into the cocktail giving it a better taste and fluffier texture.
Speaking of Cocktail Shakers, while you’re here, don’t miss our post on 7 Essential Home Bartending Tools you need at home.
Vodka, light rum, gin, tequila blanco and triple sec, combined with lemon juice and a splash of cola.
A Long Island Iced Tea should be made with tequila blanco.
For the gin, reach for a classic London Dry – juniper-forward and clean enough to hold its own alongside four other spirits. Our preference is Beefeater.
Call us biased, but for the vodka, our preference is Absolut – clean, smooth and the perfect neutral base for a drink with this many competing flavors.
There are four widely recognized variations on the Long Island Iced Tea, each defined by a single swap. The Hawaiian Iced Tea trades cola for pineapple juice. The Texas Tea adds whiskey to the original formula. The Long Beach Iced Tea swaps cola for cranberry juice. And the Boston Tea Party uses blue curaçao in place of triple sec and lemon-lime soda instead of cola.
