What does a Long Island Iced Tea taste like?
A Long Island Iced Tea tastes surprisingly like sweet lemon iced tea, even though it has no tea: five spirits, sour mix and a splash of cola, sweet, tangy and very strong.
Long Island Iced Tea
sneaky strong sweet tea
A Long Island Iced Tea is vodka, gin, white rum, tequila and triple sec, with lemon or sour mix and a splash of cola, served tall over ice. There's no tea in it. The cola tints it brown and, mixed with lemon and sugar, it really does taste like sweet iced tea. None of the spirits stands out, which is the trap: it tastes easy, sweet and tangy while carrying several shots of liquor. Bar versions with sour mix are sweeter. Craft versions with fresh lemon taste cleaner.
Where you’ll see it
On bar, college-town and chain restaurant menus, in a tall glass with a lemon wedge. Riffs include the blue AMF and the Long Beach Iced Tea with cranberry.
Order it if you want something sweet and easy and you're not driving anywhere.
Quick questions
- Does a Long Island Iced Tea have tea in it?
- No. The cola and lemon make it look and taste like iced tea, but there is no tea at all.
- How strong is a Long Island Iced Tea?
- Very. It usually holds about two and a half ounces of spirits, roughly what is in two regular cocktails.