The cocktail got its proud name from Long Island, which is located in the south of New York. It was there that it was invented in the 70s of the last century. As you can see, the cocktail is quite young, it does not have a century of history, like Dry Martini or Old Fashion. However, there are versions that the first Long Island Ice Tea was invented 100 years ago, namely during the famous Prohibition, that is, in the 1920s in the States. Residents simply had to get ciphered from the police, so all kinds of alcoholic drinks were disguised as non-alcoholic ones. It is clear that in those years it was a little dangerous to claim the authorship of an alcoholic cocktail. However, there were daredevils.
So, in 1930, a certain Charles Bischel, a moonshiner from the glorious state of Tennessee, in which Jack Daniels, beloved by many, is made, claimed his rights to the authorship of the Long Island cocktail. In general, the uncle disguised a fairly strong alcoholic drink as an absolutely innocent iced tea. Actually, what kind of cop would forbid a bar guest to sip cold tea in the evening? It is clear that many liked this decision and Long Island Ice Tea began to enjoy unprecedented fame.
However, the authorship of the cocktail officially belongs to Robert Bott, who in the 70s worked at a hotel on the island of the same name. Whatever they say, I prefer another version that my mentor told me when I worked at Caffeine (although this version is already walking all over the Internet).
In general, in the same 70s, a couple liked to drop into one of the bars on Long Island. The guy was addicted to drinking to such an extent that the young lady gave him an ultimatum: either she or a glass of whiskey. The guy (like a sailor, I don’t remember exactly), probably loved the girl and refused to drink. However, he broke once when the girl seated him at the bar and handed him a glass of iced tea. When she left, the young man did not think for a long time and asked the bartender to pour something strong into the tea, and he did his best. The bartender liked the idea, and he let the cocktail all over the island, gaining instant fame.
Cocktail recipe Long Island Ice Tea
Ingredients:
- 15 ml of silver tequila;
- 15 ml of vodka;
- 15 ml white rum;
- 15 ml Triple sec (Quantro);
- Xnumx gin ml;
- 25 ml of lemon fresh;
- 30 ml sugar syrup;
- 1 desh (2-3 drops) Cola.
Preparation:
- fill the highball with ice and pour all the ingredients on it;
- mix gently with a bar spoon and garnish with a lemon wedge;
- serve with a straw.
This is how the MBA recipe sounds. Now I want to share the technology of cooking Long Island from my side:
- fill the highball with crush (crushed ice) – it melts quickly enough and thereby dilutes a too strong drink, it’s proven, it’s tastier;
- pour in all the alcoholic components, you can also shake all the components, except for cola, in a shaker;
- add sugar syrup and freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- lightly tint the cocktail with Cola so that it resembles tea in color;
- Top up with crush and garnish with a slice of lemon.
A cocktail is drunk with a bang, but you can’t master a lot of such gizmos. I personally don’t like it very much, because I don’t like it when too many components are mixed in a glass (for me, a classic is no more than 5 components). However, many people are simply delighted with this cocktail, so do not miss the chance to try it.
Long Island Ice Tea Cocktail Facts
- At the moment, the cocktail is one of the five most popular cocktails in the world;
- In the USA, they prefer to add more lemon juice and Cola to the cocktail, as, indeed, in our bars, however, in our country they do this to increase the volume of the drink, to make it more expensive;
- In England they prefer to make Long Island without lemon juice;
- Some replace cola with tea or juice, but this turns out to be a completely different cocktail.
Well, happy cocktail drinking and all the best! And by tradition, in my opinion, the most adequate video cocktail recipe for Long Island: