Top 5 Long Island Iced Tea Cocktails - Easy Cocktails

Summary

In this episode of The Educated Barfly, the host demonstrates how to make a classic Long Island Iced Tea and four popular variations: the AMF, Long Beach Iced Tea, Tokyo Tea, and Texas Tea. While explaining the cocktail's origins, the host debunks the myth that Long Island Iced Tea is overly alcoholic. The video features step-by-step instructions for each drink, with detailed ingredient breakdowns and tips on balancing flavors. The host also discusses different liqueurs and garnishes, ending with a teaser for future episodes featuring more variations.

Takeaways

• 🍹 The Long Island Iced Tea was created by Robert 'Rosebud' Butt in 1972 at Oak Beach Inn, Long Island.
• 🤔 Despite having four different spirits, the cocktail is not necessarily more alcoholic than a normal cocktail when made responsibly.
• 📏 The standard recipe includes equal parts of gin, vodka, light rum, and tequila, with Cointreau as a substitute for triple sec.
• 🍋 The cocktail starts with a lemon sour base of lemon juice and simple syrup.
• 🧊 It is traditionally served in a 12-ounce highball glass with a responsible pour of spirits.
• 💧 Cointreau is preferred over Curaçao because it is drier and less sweet, complementing the simple syrup and lemon juice.
• 🥤 The drink is given an 'iced tea' appearance by floating a small amount of cola on top.
• 🌐 The AMF (Adios Mother F***er) variation replaces Cointreau with blue Curaçao for a blue tint.
• 🍓 The Long Beach Iced Tea variation substitutes cranberry juice for cola.
• 🍈 The Tokyo Tea variation uses Midori, a melon-flavored liqueur, in place of Cointreau.
• 🥃 The Texas Tea variation replaces Cointreau with bourbon, giving it a different flavor profile.

Q & A

Who is credited with creating the Long Island Iced Tea?

Robert 'Rosebud' is credited with creating the Long Island Iced Tea at the Oak Beach Inn bar in Long Island in 1972.

Why do people often think the Long Island Iced Tea is very alcoholic?

People often think the Long Island Iced Tea is very alcoholic because it contains four different spirits. However, when made responsibly, with half an ounce of each spirit, it doesn't contain much more alcohol than a normal cocktail.

What is the significance of using Cointreau instead of Curaçao in the traditional recipe?

Cointreau is used instead of Curaçao because it is a neutral grain spirit macerated with oranges, resulting in a drier and less sweet finish compared to Curaçao, which is brandy-based and would add more body and sweetness to the cocktail.

What is the purpose of adding Coke to the Long Island Iced Tea?

Adding Coke to the Long Island Iced Tea is to give it the appearance of iced tea, as the color of Coke resembles that of tea.

What is the difference between the traditional Long Island Iced Tea and the Adios Motherf***** (AMF)?

The difference between the traditional Long Island Iced Tea and the AMF is the addition of half an ounce of blue Curaçao in the AMF, which tints the drink blue.

What is the Long Beach Iced Tea and how is it different from the traditional recipe?

The Long Beach Iced Tea replaces the Coke in the traditional recipe with cranberry juice, giving it a different flavor and color.

What is the Tokyo Tea and how does it vary from the original Long Island Iced Tea?

The Tokyo Tea replaces Cointreau with Midori, a melon-flavored liqueur, giving the cocktail a green color and a unique melon flavor.

What is the Texas Tea and why is it named so?

The Texas Tea replaces Cointreau with bourbon, hence the name. It is named Texas Tea because of the use of bourbon, which is associated with Texas, although the video suggests it could also be called a Kentucky tea due to the association of bourbon with Kentucky.

What is the significance of using Mexican Coke in the Long Island Iced Tea?

Mexican Coke is used in the Long Island Iced Tea because it contains natural sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, making it a 'healthier' version of Coke.

What are some other variations of the Long Island Iced Tea mentioned in the script?

The script mentions at least five other variations of the Long Island Iced Tea, but they are not detailed in the provided transcript and may be discussed in another episode.

What is the recommended way to garnish the Tokyo Tea?

The Tokyo Tea is garnished simply with a lemon wedge, which complements the drink's appearance without overpowering the unique green color.

Outlines

00:00

🍹 Introduction to Long Island Iced Tea and Its Variations

The script introduces a video about making the Long Island Iced Tea cocktail and its iconic variations. The narrator explains that despite the misconception that it's highly alcoholic due to the four spirits it contains, it's not necessarily stronger than a standard cocktail when made responsibly. The video will demonstrate four variations of the drink. The traditional Long Island Iced Tea recipe involves lemon juice, simple syrup, and equal parts of gin, vodka, light rum, tequila, and Cointreau. The narrator prefers using Cointreau over Triple Sec or Curaçao for its drier finish and less sweetness. The drink is served in a highball glass with a lemon garnish and topped with Mexican Coke for a healthier option.

05:01

🥃 Crafting the Adios Motherf***er (AMF) Variation

The second paragraph describes the process of making the Adios Motherf***er (AMF), a variation of the Long Island Iced Tea. The recipe includes lemon juice, simple syrup, and equal parts of gin, vodka, light rum, tequila, and blue Curaçao for its distinctive blue color. The drink is shaken with ice and strained into a glass filled with ice. It's then topped with lemon-lime soda and garnished with a lemon slice. The narrator mentions using Mexican Sprite for authenticity.

10:05

🍓 Creating the Long Beach Iced Tea

The third paragraph details the Long Beach Iced Tea, which swaps out the Coke in the traditional recipe for cranberry juice. The narrator uses a specific brand of cranberry juice but notes that Ocean Spray is commonly used. The cocktail is made with the same base of lemon juice and simple syrup, with equal parts of gin, vodka, rum, tequila, and Cointreau. It's shaken with ice, strained into a glass, and topped with cranberry juice. A lemon garnish is suggested for this variation.

🌿 Making the Tokyo Tea with Midori

The fourth paragraph introduces the Tokyo Tea, which substitutes Midori, a melon-flavored liqueur, for Cointreau. The narrator discusses the history and manufacturing of Midori and its vibrant green color. The cocktail is made with lemon juice, simple syrup, and equal parts of the four spirits, plus Midori. It's shaken with ice, strained into a glass, and topped with Sprite. The narrator opts for no garnish, appreciating the natural look of the drink.

🥃 The Texas Tea with a Bourbon Twist

The final paragraph of the script describes the Texas Tea, which replaces Cointreau with bourbon, specifically Evan Williams bonded bourbon. The narrator humorously questions why it's named 'Texas' instead of 'Kentucky' given the use of bourbon. The cocktail follows the same base recipe with the substitution of bourbon and is served over ice with a lemon wedge garnish. The video concludes with the narrator inviting viewers to like, subscribe, and check out exclusive content on Patreon.

Keywords

💡Long Island Iced Tea

The Long Island Iced Tea is a classic cocktail that contains a mix of vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, lemon juice, simple syrup, and a splash of cola, giving the appearance of iced tea. In the video, the cocktail is the central theme, and the host discusses its creation and variations.

💡Robert 'Rosebud' Butt

Robert 'Rosebud' Butt is credited with inventing the Long Island Iced Tea at the Oak Beach Inn bar in Long Island in 1972. He is a key figure in the cocktail's history and is mentioned in the script as the creator of the drink.

💡Triple Sec

Triple sec is a type of orange-flavored liqueur made from dried orange peels and is a key ingredient in the Long Island Iced Tea. The script discusses the use of Cointreau as a substitute for triple sec in the original recipe.

💡Cointreau

Cointreau is a specific brand of triple sec that is used in the Long Island Iced Tea recipe. It is described as being drier and less sweet than other orange liqueurs, making it suitable for balancing the sweetness of the cocktail.

💡Proof

Proof refers to the alcohol content of a beverage, typically expressed as twice the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV). The script mentions using 99 proof tequila, indicating a higher alcohol content which affects the strength of the cocktail.

💡Shake

Shaking is a common technique used in cocktail making to mix ingredients and chill the drink. The script describes shaking the cocktail vigorously to ensure all ingredients are well combined.

💡Garnish

A garnish is a decorative item added to a cocktail for visual appeal. The script mentions using a lemon flag and a lemon wedge as garnishes for different variations of the Long Island Iced Tea.

💡Adios Motherf***** (AMF)

Adios Motherf*****, also known as AMF, is a variation of the Long Island Iced Tea that includes blue curacao, giving it a distinctive blue color. The script describes this variation as one of the most iconic.

💡Long Beach Iced Tea

Long Beach Iced Tea is a variation where cranberry juice replaces the cola, creating a different flavor profile. The script explains this variation and the choice of cranberry juice.

💡Tokyo Tea

Tokyo Tea is another variation that uses Midori, a melon-flavored liqueur, in place of Cointreau. The script discusses the unique flavor and color that Midori contributes to the cocktail.

💡Texas Tea

Texas Tea is a variation that replaces Cointreau with bourbon, adding a different twist to the classic recipe. The script humorously questions why it's not called Kentucky Tea, given the use of bourbon.

Highlights

Introduction to making a Long Island Iced Tea and its four iconic variations.

History of Long Island Iced Tea created by Robert Rosebud in 1972.

Misconception about the cocktail's alcohol content explained.

Recipe for traditional Long Island Iced Tea with equal parts of spirits.

Use of Cointreau over Curaçao for a drier finish.

Instructions for making the cocktail with a proper pour and presentation.

Cocktail shaking and serving technique discussed.

Garnish with a lemon flag for traditional Long Island Iced Tea.

Introduction to the first variation: Adios Motherf***er (AMF).

Recipe for AMF includes blue curacao for a blue tint.

Serving suggestion for AMF with lemon-lime soda.

Introduction to the Long Beach Iced Tea variation.

Recipe for Long Beach Iced Tea substitutes cranberry juice for cola.

Discussion on the choice of cranberry juice brands.

Introduction to the Tokyo Tea variation.

Use of Midori melon liqueur in place of Cointreau for Tokyo Tea.

Cultural and manufacturing background of Midori.

Introduction to the Texas Tea variation.

Recipe for Texas Tea includes bourbon instead of Cointreau.

Discussion on the naming of Texas Tea and its relation to bourbon.

Final thoughts on the Long Island Iced Tea variations and potential for more episodes.

Call to action for viewers to like, subscribe, and support on Patreon.

Transcripts

what's up guys welcome back to the

educated barfly today we're gonna be

making a long island I see and not only

that we're gonna be making four

different variations that are kind of

the most iconic variations on the long

island so the long island was created or

this guy named Robert rosebud but

claimed that he created the Long Island

iced tea at the Oak Beach Inn bar in

Long Island in 1972 I believe and

apparently it was a contest for a triple

adding triple sec to a cocktail and just

doing like a good triple sec cocktail

now there is a little bit of a

misconception about this cocktail

because a lot of people think it's super

alcoholic and the reason why they think

that is because there's four different

spirits in it now

barring any nightclubs that do very

unresponsible drink pouring there really

is not that much more alcohol in this

than a normal cocktail seeing as like if

you're pouring this drink responsibly

sorry I just like caught mice it was

like me and then I caught myself if

you're pouring this drink responsibly

you're only doing half an ounce of each

thing maybe 3/4 of an ounce some bars

like to charge 15 bucks for it and to

serve it in a pint glass and do 3/4 of

an ounce which times four is gonna add

up to three ounces I like to do half an

ounce serve it in the nice 12 ounce

highball glass and that's all I got for

you let's get into the cocktail so first

thing we're gonna do is we're just gonna

do our like traditional lemon sour by

adding 3/4 an ounce of lemon juice and

3/4 of an ounce of simple syrup to our

tin and then the rest of the cocktail is

pretty simple it's just equal parts of

everything so we're gonna do half an

ounce of gin half an ounce of vodka

half an ounce of light rum and half an

ounce of tequila now we are up in the

proof a little bit because I'm using 99

proof tequila which I really love this

is like one of my workhorse tequila's

and then we're gonna do half an ounce of

Cointreau now the reason why I'm using

Cointreau is because it is closer to

triple sec then let's say Carissa would

be so the difference is is that

Cointreau is a neutral grain spirit

that's been macerated with oranges so

you get like orange liqueur it's very

dry on the finish

not gonna add a lot of sugar whereas

something like curse ow

not only does he use a particular orange

but it also is a brandy based so it'd be

closed through to something like Grand

Marnier so we're gonna add half an ounce

here and it's better to do Cointreau or

triple sec for this because you're

adding simple syrup and lemon and if you

use to curse out it would make it a

little bit more embody it would be have

like more body but it would also be a

little sweeter whereas the Cointreau or

the triple sec is gonna be drier on the

finish and less sweet so we're just

gonna add some ice cubes into our kin I

mean into our glass and then we're gonna

add some ice cubes into the big fin and

yes I'm using my hands to do it we're

going to add the cocktail in and give it

a nice hard shake and then we are just

gonna add our drink into our glass put

this over and then to give it that iced

tea look we're gonna add a little bit of

coke on top im using Mexican coke here

just cuz it's got the natural sugar no

high fructose corn syrup so it's like

healthy coke and then I just made like a

little lemon flag for the garnish so

there it is my friends the Long Island

iced tea so for our first Long Island

variation we're gonna be doing the audio

some other [ __ ] also known as the AMF

I'm not gonna really give you a history

on all of these because I don't think a

lot of people know where the history is

but this is one of the most iconic

variations on a Long Island so first

thing we're gonna do is ah let's start

with our start with our cheap

ingredients first always cheap

ingredients first if you can help it

guys so 3/4 of an ounce of lemon juice

3/4 an ounce of simple syrup half an

ounce of gin

half an ounce of vodka half an ounce of

light rum half an ounce of tequila and

what makes it the adios half an ounce of

blue curacao which is basically just

curse al tinted blue with coloring

it's a nice in our Big Ten and our glass

[Applause]

at our cocktail give it a nice hard

shake I like to double strain the little

ice chips out you pour it over ice and

then top with lemon lime soda you can

use any lemon-lime soda you want

actually this is also very good if you

finally got bitter lemon today I'm doing

Mexican sprite just top that up and then

we're just gonna give it

little lemon and there it is the audio

some other [ __ ] or AMF so for our next

Long Island variation we making the Long

Beach iced tea essentially a Long Island

iced tea instead of coke we're putting

cranberry juice on top of it today I'm

using a little like shishi cranberry

juice from Whole Foods but I think

traditionally and then most bars are

going to make it with Ocean Spray

cranberry cocktail would just be a

little bit different but I like the the

shishi stuff so I'm gonna use that so

first thing we're gonna do three cores

an ounce of lemon juice 3/4 now it's a

simple syrup and there's our alum in

this our base and then we're gonna be

doing an equal part of everything 1/2 an

ounce so 1/2 an ounce gin half an ounce

vodka half an ounce of rum 1/2 an ounce

tequila half an ounce

Cointreau add our ice to our tin add

some ice to the glass give it a nice

hard shake Center our glass

double strain and then top up with

cranberry and then our little garnish

put a little flamingos on this one the

Long Beach iced tea so the very next

variation that we're gonna do is called

the Tokyo tea it is called Tokyo team

because we're using Midori in place of

Cointreau and so a little bit of Midori

those bottles kind of seen better days

I've had this bottle around for a while

Midori is a musky melon flavored liqueur

that was exclusively manufactured in

Japan until 1987 it is created by

Centauri of the company Centauri and it

is now manufactured in the United States

Mexico and Japan Midori is the Japanese

word for green and that's why it's

called green and it does have some

chemicals in it

that's how you get this nice ectoplasm

color I have tried for a very long time

to get cocktails like like myth I wanted

to make like a house-made melon liqueur

that had that same color and I tried

lots of various natural dyes and stuff

so that we couldn't use any chemicals

and I have failed thus far so I think

the best sub for Sidor and for Midori is

Midori alright so what we're gonna do

for our cocktail is 3/4 an ounce of

lemon juice 3/4 an ounce of simple syrup

then we're gonna be doing our usual out

half an ounce of everything so half an

ounce of gin half an ounce of vodka half

an ounce of rum and half an ounce of

tequila that makes up the main body of

our cocktail then we're gonna do half an

ounce of Midori

then we're gonna add our ice to the tin

try not to forget our glass put that

right there give it a shake

pour it that nice ectoplasm green color

and then top up with sprite now usually

you do like a little lemon garnish on

this and you can I thought it's just

nice the way that looks so I'm gonna

just leave this one garnish this there

it is the Tokyo tea so for our last Long

Island variation we're gonna be making a

drink called Texas tea I'm not sure

exactly why it's called Texas tea well

okay I know why it's called Texas tea

it's called Texas tea because we're

putting bourbon in place of Cointreau

and maybe they drink a lot of bourbon in

Texas that being said wouldn't that if

we were putting bourbon in there

wouldn't that make it a Kentucky tea I

don't know it is called a Texas tea I

think it should be a Kentucky tea I'll

leave it up to you guys to decide see me

in the cotton in the comments and tell

me what you think first thing we're

gonna do 3/4 an ounce of lemon juice you

guys should be old hands at this these

ratios you should have this memorized by

now

3/4 an ounce of simple syrup we're gonna

be doing half an ounce of gin half an

ounce vodka 1/2 an ounce light rum

half an ounce tequila as promised we're

gonna be doing what do you think that's

right half an ounce a bourbon I'm using

Evan Williams bonded bourbon which is

100 proof and four years old and just up

and you know up it up we're gonna up it

a little bit we're gonna up it up I said

let's make any sense but we're gonna

we're gonna up the proof a little bit

I'm gonna get this party started I'm

gonna add some ice into our glass add

some to our our chin give it a nice hard

shake add our cocktail and then top it

off with coke for this one I am just

going to do a traditional it's kind of

that's a very long I'm gonna cut that

off that traditional just lemon wedge

there it is

Texas tea so there you have it the Long

Island iced tea and it's most iconic

variations truth be told there are at

least another five variations on the

Long Island which I may reserve for

another episode but these ones are the

iconic Long Island iced tea and it's

most sought after variations until next

time guys stay cool and if you like our

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good exclusive content going on there

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will see you then