Ahhhh, the Long Island Iced Tea.
As long as people have enjoyed vomiting in the bushes outside their neighborhood watering hole, they've enjoyed sucking down Long Island Iced Teas.
Just ordering a Long Island sort of defines your night right from the start and makes a declaration to everyone around you: I'm going to go from zero to humiliating just as quickly as I can.
Now, if you think people get excited by the Long Island, wait until you offer them a spin-off of the original and watch them jump around like a chimpanzee who got stung by a bee. I've been serving these variations for years, and if you want to be loved as a bartender, learn to diversify your Long Islands and watch them clutch at their drink excitedly like a child clutches an Otter Pop on a hot summer day.
But first, what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't educate you on the beginnings of the Long Island and where it came from?
HISTORY OF THE LONG ISLANDAs with practically every cocktail with some time under its belt, the Long Island comes with debatable and uncertain beginnings. At first glance it appears as if it might have been inspired by the fruitcake: just throw anything you have in your cupboards into a container, mix it up and then ask yourself why in the hell you would ever ingest such a thing.
The original (and most believable) story comes from a small community called Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee where it is declared that the Long Island was created in the 1920's by an "Old Man Bishop" during the prohibition. Apparently, Bishop decided that combining vodka, whiskey, gin, tequila and rum with a little maple syrup was somehow a good idea.
For the purposes of creating a timeline here, in the 1960's, Betty Crocker came out with a cook book that mentions the Long Island Iced Tea, though she gives no credit to Old Man Bishop.
Which brings us to the fraud, Bob Butt, who claims he invented the Long Island when he entered a cocktail contest so he could include triple sec as one of the ingredients.
And I only use the word fraud here because Butt is claiming to have invented something that was already invented. He even says so on his website:
" The world famous Long Island Iced Tea was first invented in 1972 by me, Robert Butt, while I was tending bar at the infamous Oak Beach Inn. I participated in a cocktail creating contest. Triple Sec had to be included, and the bottles started flying. My concoction was an immediate hit and quickly became the house drink at the Oak Beach Inn. By the mid-1970s, every bar on Long Island was serving up this innocent-looking cocktail, and by the 1980s it was known the world over."
Before Bob comes kicking down my door for calling him a fraud, I will say this: while claiming you invented a drink, when all you did was replace maple syrup with Coke, makes you a fraud, Bob Butt is most likely responsible for the modern day success of the Long Island. But as you'll notice if you visit his website, nowhere will he mention anything about Betty Crocker's mention of the Long Island a whole decade before he "invented it".
What's up with that, Bob?
With that said, let's move on to the many variations of the Long Island, which I invented by the way. Because I said so. On my blog.
Before we start, let me remind you of this: before you pour a Long Island, only 2 oz. of booze is needed. Please don't refer to online drink recipe websites that say to use 1 once of each liquor for a total of 4 - 5 oz. These people are idiots and they also don't have to deal with your guests in your bar.
There, you've been warned.
TRADITIONAL LONG ISLAND (the modern version)
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
Splash of sweet & sour
Splash of Coke
*Some still include the tequila, some don't
LONG BEACH1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of cranberry
AMF (ADIOS MOTHER FUCKER)1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. blue curacao
Splash of sweet & sour
Splash of Sprite
*Some put in triple sec AND blue curacao which is unnecessary since blue curacao is just blue triple sec
BLACK WIDOW (A.K.A. GRATEFUL DEAD, BLACK OPAL, BLACK SUPERMAN)*My favorite "go-to" recipe. Also good if you shake it up as a shot
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. Chambord
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of Sprite
TOKYO TEA1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. Midori
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of Sprite
TEXAS TEA (for those who think 5 liquors just isn't quite enough)
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. of whiskey
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of Coke
GEORGIA PEACH1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. peach schnapps
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of cranberry
SEX WITH SATAN (what a great name!)
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. sloe gin
1/2 oz. cherry brandy
Splash of sweet and sour
BOSTON TEA PARTY1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. amaretto
Splash of sweet and sour
Splash of Coke
That'll do it folks. Now go out there and make people sick. Just kidding. Serve responsibly please.
Cheers, until next time,
The RB