Long Island Ice Tea (Long Island Iced Tea) is a unique drink based on gin, vodka, tequila and rum. This is a fairly strong cocktail, with an alcohol content of about 28%. It is popular due to the fact that it is very easy to prepare and at the same time has a unique, invigorating taste.
There are several versions of how the Long Island Ice Tea appeared. The first says that the drink was invented during the prohibition period in the United States. At the time, clandestine merchants sought to create the strongest and most diverse drinks that would be popular with connoisseurs of alcohol. It was then that the bartenders realized that if you mix gin, vodka, tequila and rum, as well as some other ingredients in one glass, you get a very strong, but at the same time quite ordinary-looking drink. Lemon was also added to the glasses with it so that it did not differ from usual tea, and alcohol lovers drank a cocktail without fear of being caught by the suddenly arriving police.
The original blend consisted of lime juice, orange juice, liqueur, vodka, gin and light rum in 20 ml each. One sprinkle of tea or cola was made into a glass with a cocktail.
According to the second version of the origin, on Long Island Street in New York, funny entertainment was at one time popular: players walked from the beginning to the end of the street, drinking in every bar they met. The winner was the one who reached the end of the path on his own feet. In the competition for visitors, the bartenders were tricky and gave the players a very strong cocktail, which quickly took them out of the game and did not allow them to enter other establishments. Also, eyewitnesses claim that some players themselves asked to pour something stronger for them to make the game even more interesting.
The third story is that the inventor of Long Island Ice Tea is Chris Bendixen, who worked as a bartender in a New York bar in the Long Island area. A man accompanied by a girl constantly came to this institution. He was passionate about drinking, but when he got drunk, he lost control of himself. Once a lady gave him an ultimatum: either she or alcohol, and then he had to be content with only cold tea. When the lady went to the toilet, the man asked the bartender to add as much alcohol as possible to the tea. Chris Bendixen was not taken aback and mixed rum, gin, vodka, tequila and Cointreau liqueur in a glass.
According to the adherents of the third story, the girl in the end did not notice the substitution of simple tea for alcoholic and did not understand how her man contrived to get drunk literally in front of her eyes.
To prepare Long Island Ice Tea you will need:
- 20 ml of vodka;
- 20 ml of white rum;
- 20 ml gin;
- 20 ml of orange liqueur;
- 20 ml of silver tequila;
- 80 ml of cola;
- half a lemon.
Cut the lemon into wedges, squeeze the juice into a glass and place the wedges there. Fill the glass to the top with ice. Mix vodka, liqueur, tequila, rum and gin in it. Add cola.
There are several variations of the classic drink: Peach Long Island (peach schnapps is added instead of tequila), Jersey Tea (cola is replaced by Jagermeister), Pittsburgh Tea (Wild Turkey whiskey is added instead of tequila), Alaska Ice Tee (cola is replaced by Blue Curazo and Tokyo Ice Tee (Midori liqueur is added instead of tequila).
