It’s hard to know where and when the Long Island Iced Tea, perhaps one of the most infamous cocktails in modern times, was truly invented.
What Is the Alcohol Content of a Long Island Iced Tea?
To bust one myth, when made to spec, a Long Island Iced Tea is not boozier than most other standard cocktails. Four full-fledged liquors are used but in half-ounce pours, meaning that added all together they comprise a full 2 ounces, which tends to be the standard amount for most single-spirit cocktails. There’s technically a fifth spirit here, too: Triple sec is a lower-proofed liqueur commonly used as a sweetening agent. Altogether, this makes your Long Island Iced Tea akin to a standard margarita, sidecar or even Cosmo in the alcohol-by-volume department.
The most notable achievement of the Long Island Iced Tea is that for a cocktail that sounds disgusting on paper—vodka, gin, tequila and rum in the same glass—it actually comes together in a deceptively easy-drinking package. Perhaps this is why the perception of its strength persists, not because of the overall alcohol content of the drink, but how quickly and easily they can be chugged.
What’s in a Long Island Iced Tea?
A Long Island Iced Tea consists of vodka, gin, tequila, white rum, triple sec, lemon juice, simple syrup and cola. Though the number of liquors in this cocktail can seem staggering, one of the reasons for its enduring popularity is that it’s fairly uncomplicated to make. As an old bartender shorthand goes, just use all your clear base spirits plus triple sec, add in lemon juice and simple syrup, then top with cola.