Long Island Iced Tea Lab

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Badfellow
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Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Badfellow »

Last night, I developed an acute craving for the drink known as the Long Island Iced Tea. If you're not familiar, the official guide of the International Bartenders Association specifies the following ingredients...

1.5 cl Tequila
1.5 cl White Rum
1.5 cl Vodka
1.5 cl Gin
1.5 cl Triple Sec
2.5 cl Lemon Juice
3.0 cl Gomme Syrup
1 dash Cola

*mixed and served over ice

As you might gather from the above, this is not a timid concoction. It is quite true throughout most of the western world that if you go to a bar and order a Long Island Iced Tea, you are sending direct code to the bartender in essence stating "I am here to drink; don't skimp on the liquor". The funny thing about this drink is that most variants do not actually contain any tea, and yet the unlikely maelstrom of ingredients gives close approximation to a sweet tea type beverage. It can also be a highly beguiling drink, for a well made example tastes of little or no booze at all. Like the best of tiki drinks, it is a liquorous ninja out to assassinate your memories of the evening.

Making these grand libations at home, you will of course be at better liberty to mix things up a bit and experiment with variations on the classic formula. Having mixed a few in my day, I'll share a few preferences from what can recall of the subject.


Quality matters- You can get away with cheap vodka, maybe even rum. But if you try compromising on the gin or tequila, it will bite you in the ass like a junkyard dog. Bottom shelf Long Islands are a great value, especially at the bar. That being said, they tend to taste somewhat like bug spray, and they will most certainly rot your gut into the pit of fucking hell the next day. The slightly higher price of a mid quality liquor is a small price to pay for the investment in your overall drinking pleasure.

Dark rum works too- And it gives a deeper flavor. It also plays well off tequila with the sweetness involved.

Upgrade the Triple Sec- I invested in a bottle of Grand Marnier for this endeavor with no regrets. In fact, I'm looking forward to mixing it with other boozages as well. Next up, rye whiskey. I'm also considering adding a splash of rye to the next Long Island. Muahahaha.

Make your own sour mix- Very easy to do, just simple syrup with lemon and lime juice added. You can infuse the peels too if you want to take the time. You will find it useful in many other applications, both food and drink. Get off your lazy ass and make some, fucker.

Cola- It doesn't have to be Coca Cola, but it seems to work the best. Don't let that limit you though. I'd be curious to try something like Moxie or Afri Cola in it's place.


Bottom line: mix, drink, repeat.
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Smatter Noguts
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Smatter Noguts »

This is genius of course, consider the source. Some bars make the coke 50% of it, they are the debble.

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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Gall4185 »

In all honesty,we make bottles of premix for our Iced Teas: Just equal parts vodka,gin,tequila and rum. The citrus tones we get by using orange bitters and fresh orange peel. Our Miami Iced Tea then adds a dash of lychee liqueur with some lychee puree topped with a splash of lemonade and a float of cranberry juice. For me,any of the Iced tea variations have to be built around a balanced flavour,it should be a drink you can either nurse or guzzle whilst kicking back to relax

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Badfellow
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Badfellow »

Smatter Noguts wrote:Some bars make the coke 50% of it, they are the debble.
Those bars are Carrie Nation worshipers.

Rarely have I come across the premix thing in the States. One of the pleasures of ordering a Long Island is watching all that liquor flash flood into your glass via the four bottle pour.
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Gall4185 »

The premix just means I grab two bottles instead of five or six. Helps consistency of flavour,stock control and speed of service. Of course,if someone is sitting at the bar and asks for a full blown LIIT,I'll happily indulge

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oettinger
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by oettinger »

How does a shot of premix taste?
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Badfellow »

oettinger wrote:How does a shot of premix taste?
Like booze, of course.



Okay Drunkards,
Here's a Long Island Iced Tea drinking report from the wooly, woodsy rural north where people get absolutely fucking plastered after 7 PM as a matter of daily ritual.

-Wednesday night at the American Legion, some preppy dip-shit from Fargo, ND got so loaded on Windsor cokes that he drove his King Ranch super duty straight into an adjacent cornfield. A drunk, pissed-off farmer showed up before the county mounties and beat the ever-loving tar out of the dumb ass. Most of the bar, including myself, came out watch the free entertainment. (3) Long Island Iced Teas @ $5.00 each. Bottom shelf but drinkable.

-Thursday night, (4) LIIT's with dinner at the Stalker Lake Bar & Grill. There's a new girl working behind the bar, and so I take a certain amount of pleasure in teaching the brunette lass how to properly make the drink. Bear in mind, these are drinks coming from a golf course bar. They're served in huge, bulbous glasses that resemble punch bowls, holding a volume of at least 20 fluid ounces. Even requesting Absolut and Cuervo 1800 in place of the bottom shelf standards, I was only charged $4.00 a piece for these heaping helpings of nectar. It's fair to say I envision myself a hummingbird while I sip through the straw, buzzing around on a cloud of liquor fumes.

-Friday night, back to the Stalker where my #1 kick-ass bartender in the world Liev is running the house. For any man, just to watch her mix magic behind the bar is to fall in love. At the fourth Long Island I opt for Makers Mark as a substitution for the tequila. Then heavy on the lemon wedge. This proves to be a good move. These drinks are delicious. Two more and I'm headed for the door whistling Django Reinhardt into the night. Bless you, Liev.

Drink it.
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oettinger
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by oettinger »

^^^ great report.

4$ is highway robbery.


Makers instead of the T? Hmm, sounds strange but with so many ingredients does it really matter?
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Badfellow »

oettinger wrote:
4$ is highway robbery.
You, sir, are high on crack. That's actually quite cheap for the quantity of jungle juice involved.
In Germania, you'd probably get charged at least 20 hog knuckles (€12) for the same.
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by Frankennietzsche »

Badfellow wrote:.

Rarely have I come across the premix thing in the States. One of the pleasures of ordering a Long Island is watching all that liquor flash flood into your glass via the four bottle pour.
The premixed is, sadly, the norm around here. It's purchased, premade, too. I am sure that it isn't the proper liquors and is just flavored grain alcohol. It is below bottom shelf and intended for the dive bar and frat party crowd.
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by oettinger »

Badfellow wrote:
oettinger wrote:
4$ is highway robbery.
You, sir, are high on crack. That's actually quite cheap for the quantity of jungle juice involved.
In Germania, you'd probably get charged at least 20 hog knuckles (€12) for the same.
No no, the robbery is on your part this time.
Sorry for the misunderstanding
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by GraveyardShiftChuck »

All this talk about Long Island Ice Tea is giving me some ideas - the most obvious is, "How can I make one on the road?" It's overtime season at work, so quitting time for the week is now Saturday morning. An LIIT for the van ride home would sound great, but the question remains as to making it. I can get a fountain Coke at both convenience stores in Steeleville (where I work), but their liquor selection leaves much to be desired. Shooter bottles of plain vodka are hard to come by, and even their 200ml bottles are mostly the bottom shelf stuff. And forget about finding good gin and tequila, let alone any trip le sec! All this means that I'll have to go pre-mix. But how do I hide it at work? I can't keep food or drink in my locker, and I get a little paranoid about them sniffing at my bag in the lunch room. Guess I'll have to wait till I get home.
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by oettinger »

GraveyardShiftChuck wrote:All this talk about Long Island Ice Tea is giving me some ideas - the most obvious is, "How can I make one on the road?" It's overtime season at work, so quitting time for the week is now Saturday morning. An LIIT for the van ride home would sound great, but the question remains as to making it. I can get a fountain Coke at both convenience stores in Steeleville (where I work), but their liquor selection leaves much to be desired. Shooter bottles of plain vodka are hard to come by, and even their 200ml bottles are mostly the bottom shelf stuff. And forget about finding good gin and tequila, let alone any trip le sec! All this means that I'll have to go pre-mix. But how do I hide it at work? I can't keep food or drink in my locker, and I get a little paranoid about them sniffing at my bag in the lunch room. Guess I'll have to wait till I get home.
Put a bottle in an "extra pair of boots" in your locker
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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by GraveyardShiftChuck »

I don't have an extra pair of boots in my locker, and like I said, I can't keep food or drinks in my locker anyway. Then again, I start my last vacation week for the year Saturday morning, so I'll have plenty of time to make some up right!
May you all be hung, drawn and quartered!
Yes, HUNG - with gold and jewels,
DRAWN - in a coach and four,
and QUARTERED - in the finest homes in the land.

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Re: Long Island Iced Tea Lab

Post by oettinger »

GraveyardShiftChuck wrote:I don't have an extra pair of boots in my locker, and like I said, I can't keep food or drinks in my locker anyway. Then again, I start my last vacation week for the year Saturday morning, so I'll have plenty of time to make some up right!
There`s always Miklo`s (look him up, the greatest on-duty drunk the board has to offer) way of dealing with this problem: carry enough alcohol in your bloodstream that the next reload is only needed hours later.
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