What is a long island iced tea?

Long Island iced tea, or Long Island iced tea, is an official IBA cocktail, normally prepared with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin and a splash. Made with a combination of vodka, white rum, silver tequila, gin, triple sec (or orange liqueur), simple syrup, cola and, if you feel like it, a little lemon juice, Long Island iced tea is a powerful cocktail packed with a variety of flavors. Long Island iced tea, or Long Island iced tea, is an official IBA cocktail, normally prepared with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin and a splash of cola. The International Waiters' Association (IBA) recipe includes equal parts of vodka, tequila, white rum, cointreau, gin, 2 parts lemon juice and 1+1⁄3 of syrup topped with cola.

Robert Rosebud Butt claims to have invented Long Island iced tea as part of a competition to create a new drink mixed with triple sec in 1972, while working at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York. Long Island iced tea is the equivalent in a display case of alcoholic beverages to what children once called a suicidal soda (a splash of every drink from the soda fountain in a huge cup full of ice). An elderly bishop from a local community called Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee, is said to have invented a slightly different drink in the 1920s during Prohibition in the United States. The drink is slightly sweet with a mild cola flavor and, with the addition of lemon juice, can have a good acid balance.

The cocktail is said to have been invented in 1971 by a Long Island waiter for a drinking contest. The alcoholic beverage is covered with a splash of brown cola, which darkens the cocktail enough to resemble iced tea with shades of amber and brown. The drink is a polarizing choice among waiters, as some prefer the drink and others don't. Rather, the cocktail, notoriously high in alcohol, is named after its resemblance to the alcohol-free lunchtime sip (i.e., iced tea).

Despite its name, the cocktail does not usually contain iced tea, but is so called because it has the same amber hue as iced tea. Long Island iced tea is usually served in a Collins glass or in a Hurricane glass on a large amount of fresh ice with a splash of cola on top, which creates that tea-like color.