Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail Recipe (with Easy Step-by-Step Video)

One of my favorite summertime cocktails is the Long Island Iced Tea. It's cool, it's refreshing, and it's just what you need on a hot summer day.

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Don’t let the name alone fool you. The Long Island Iced Tea is one of the stronger cocktails on the menu. A few of these, and you’ll be feeling a little more than tipsy at your uncle’s BBQ.

The Long Island Iced Tea is what happens when every spirit in your liquor cabinet decides to throw a party! This isn’t your grandmother’s afternoon tea; it’s the cocktail equivalent of that friend who convinces you to go out on a Tuesday night. Proceed with caution 😅

Here’s how to make a Long Island Iced Tea.

Long island iced tea cocktail

Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail

Recipe by Julian Solorzano
5.0 from 2 votes

The Long Island Iced Tea is a deceivingly smooth cocktail that combines vodka, gin, white rum, tequila, and triple sec, balanced with fresh citrus and topped with cola. Despite containing virtually every clear spirit known to mankind, it tastes surprisingly like iced tea – which makes it dangerously delicious!

Course: Highball Glass, Collins GlassCuisine: ContemporaryDifficulty: Intermediate
Servings

1

servings
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

4

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Ounce Vodka

  • 1/2 Ounce Gin

  • 1/2 Ounce White Rum

  • 1/2 Ounce Silver Tequila

  • 1/2 Ounce Triple Sec

  • 1 Ounce Fresh Lemon Juice

  • 1/2 Ounce Simple Syrup

  • 2 Ounces Cola

  • 1 Wedge Lemon (for garnish)

Directions

  • Fill a collins glass completely with ice until it’s frosty.
  • Add vodka, gin, white rum, tequila, and triple sec to your shaker.
  • Pour in fresh lemon juice and simple syrup.
  • Fill shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds until well-chilled.
  • Strain into your ice-filled collins glass.
  • Top with cola and give it a gentle stir.
  • Garnish with a lemon wedge and serve immediately.

Equipment

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Long Island Iced Tea is shaken, not stirred. 
  • The store-bought sour mix will never beat fresh citrus and simple syrup. So never use sour mix. Use the real stuff. 
  • A lemon wedge is the traditional Long Island garnish, but it’s too tempting to squeeze. And your drink shouldn’t require any more lemon juice. Instead of a neon maraschino cherry, garnish the drink with a lemon wheel and an excellent brandied cherry. 
  • Fresh lemon juice is non-negotiable – leave the bottled stuff for cleaning!
  • Want it stronger? Use less ice in the glass, but be warned – this drink is already potent enough to make your aunt Karen tell family secrets! 😅
  • The cola should be ice cold for the best fizz and flavor integration.
  • A Long Island Iced Tea should be only be made with a highball or in a collins glass.
Vertical image of long island iced tea cocktail 2.
Vertical image of long island iced tea cocktail.

Why I Like It

This is one of my favorite summertime cocktails is the Long Island Iced Tea. It’s cool, it’s refreshing, and it’s just what you need on a hot summer day.

The drink tastes fantastic when made properly and doesn’t have to be an evening drink. It’s a well-balanced, tasty beverage, thanks in part to the fresh lemon juice and simple syrup.

Like Saved by the Bell’s Zack Morris, this cocktail is a smooth operator that’s way more complex than it appears! It’s the perfect drink when you can’t decide what spirit you’re in the mood for – because it has ALL of them!

The way the citrus and cola transform five different spirits into something that tastes like boozy tea is nothing short of mixology magic. Plus, it’s basically a one-drink party.

The Best Ingredients For a Long Island Iced Tea

Let’s break down the best Ingredients:

  • Vodka: Tito’s is my ride-or-die choice. Grey Goose is great if you’re fancy, but save it for martinis.
  • Gin: Tanqueray or Beefeater provide that perfect juniper punch.
  • Rum: Bacardi Superior is the classic choice, but Havana Club 3 Year adds extra smoothness.
  • Tequila: Espolòn Blanco brings the right amount of agave character without breaking the bank.
  • Triple Sec: Cointreau is worth the splurge here – it brings everything together.
  • Cola: Mexican Coca-Cola with real sugar is chef’s kiss perfect! Oviosuly and cocke will do, but if it has cane sugar, that’s the “best.” No Pepsi, though! It MUST be Coke!

Variations on the Long Island Iced Tea

The Long Island’s popularity has generated its own family of highballs. Many drinks have now become popular in their own right in many parts of the United States, thanks to the success of the original Long Island Iced Tea. Here are some variations:

  • The Grateful Dead (also known as the Purple Rain or the Black Superman) is a variation on the Long Island that uses the same ingredients as a Long Island but replaces the Triple Sec with a shot of Chambord and the cola with lemon-lime soda. 
  • The Adios Motherfucker is a Long Island Iced Tea variation made with Blue Curaçao instead of Triple Sec and lemon-lime soda instead of cola. It has a striking blue tint that resembles a Blue Hawaiian.  
  • When cranberry juice is used instead of cola, the outcome is a reddish-colored Long Beach Iced Tea. When Midori is swapped for Triple Sec, and lemon-lime soda is substituted for Coca-Cola, the result is a greenish Tokyo Iced Tea.

​​History of the Long Island Iced Tea

The story goes that Robert “Rosebud” Butt created this potent potion during a 1972 cocktail competition at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island.

The challenge was to create a new cocktail using Triple Sec, and Butt decided to go big or go home by combining basically everything behind the bar. The result? A drink that would become the unofficial mascot of “I’ll just have one” turning into “Why is the sun coming up?” 😅

This cocktail sparked a whole family of similarly structured drinks (Tokyo Tea, Long Beach Tea), proving that sometimes the best ideas come from just throwing everything together and hoping for the best!

Final Thoughts

The Long Island Iced Tea is the ultimate Contemporary Classic Cocktail that proves sometimes more is more! Born in the 1970s, it’s become a staple of every bartender’s repertoire and every college student’s “never again” story.

Remember: Just because it goes down easy doesn’t mean you should treat it like actual iced tea! This drink is basically a one-way ticket to tomorrow’s headache if you’re not careful.

Jedain crimson cocktail 2.
Written by Jedain Arron, Founder and writer

Hey there! 👋 I'm Jedain, a 30-something-year-old Cocktail enthusiast from Columbus, Ohio. I've fallen head over heels for the art of crafting cocktails, with a particular passion for anything whiskey-based. (Bourbon has captured my heart).

This blog documents my adventures in mixology (shakers, stirrers, and all). Follow along as I explore classic and contemporary cocktail recipes, share my favorite Bourbon discoveries, and chronicle my journey through the world of craft spirits and cocktail creation.

Nick eggert.
Edited by Nick Eggert, Editor

Nick is our staff editor and co-founder. He has a passion for writing, editing, and website development. His expertise lies in shaping content with precision and managing digital spaces with a keen eye for detail. When not working on the site, you can find him sipping Bourbon at the karaoke bar.

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