United States

Long Island Iced Tea

Also known as Long Island, L.I.I.T., LIIT

It looks like iced tea, but it's really a heavily boozed, citrus-forward highball that hits harder than it tastes.

strongsweetsourcitruscolahighballpartydeceptiveiced-tea

ABV

Difficulty

Overview

What this drink is like

The first sip is surprisingly mellow, tasting like a slightly sweet, lemony iced tea with a faint cola bite. Mid-palate, the booze creeps in with a warm, sharp edge from the blended clear spirits. The finish is quick, slightly tart, and leaves a lingering warmth that reminds you how strong it actually is.

Who will like it

For people who like strong, tall drinks that go down easy and hide their alcohol behind citrus and soda.

When to drink

This is a party starter or a long-night-out drink, best saved for when you want a lot of booze in a hurry.

Ordering tip

Ask the bartender to go easy on the sour mix if you want it drier and more tart, or request a top-shelf version if you want cleaner spirit flavor.

Ice: CubedTemp: ColdCost: $12–$20Glass: HighballBatch-friendly

Flavor

Taste profile

This drink is a sweet and sour sugar bomb designed to hide a massive amount of alcohol. The lemon and syrup do most of the heavy lifting, making it taste like a tart, fizzy iced tea rather than the quadruple shot it actually is. It goes down fast and cold, but the booze catches up with you quickly. There isn't much nuance to pick apart, just a big, boozy citrus hit with a cola fizz.

Finish: The finish is short and a little hot, with a sweet lemon tang fading into a warm, sharp alcohol glow.

Primary tastes

sweetsour

Secondary

fruitybitter

Aroma

lemoncolafaint agave

Bitternessmildly bitter
A faint bitter edge comes from the cola and the citrus peel, but it stays in the background.
Sweetnessfairly sweet
The simple syrup and triple sec push this firmly into sweet territory to mask the heavy alcohol.
Sournessmoderately sour
Fresh lemon juice gives it a sharp, tangy bite that cuts through the sweetness.
Strengthvery strong
Four full pours of clear spirits make this one of the strongest cocktails on a standard menu.
Refreshingfairly refreshing
Served tall and cold with plenty of ice and soda, it drinks easily despite the high proof.
Complexitymoderately complex
You get a blend of different spirits, but they mostly merge into a general alcoholic punch rather than distinct layers.

Recipe

Make it at home

Shaken · Highball · equal parts on Vodka. Unflavored, neutral vodka

Before you start

Fill your highball glass with ice now so it chills while you build the drink. Squeeze your lemon juice fresh if you can.

Ingredients

VodkaBase Spirit15ml
White RumBase Spirit15ml
GinBase Spirit15ml
TequilaBase SpiritBlanco tequila15ml
Triple SecLiqueur15ml
Lemon JuiceJuiceFresh squeezed25ml
Simple SyrupSyrup1:1 ratio30ml
ColaSodaJust a splash for color and fizzTop

Garnish: Lemon wedge

Tools

Jigger · Measuring
Measuring out the five different spirits and the citrus and syrup
At home: Measuring spoons or a small shot glass
Cocktail Shaker · Shaking
Shaking the spirits, juice, and syrup with ice to chill and mix them
At home: Any large jar with a tight lid
Hawthorne Strainer · Straining
Straining the ice out when pouring the drink into the glass
At home: A slotted spoon or fine mesh sieve
Highball Glass · Serving
Serving the drink with plenty of ice and room for the cola top
At home: Any tall glass

Steps

1
Measure 15ml each of vodka, white rum, gin, and tequila, and pour them all into your empty shaker. Add 15ml of triple sec on top of the clear spirits.
!Pouring straight from the bottle without measuring, which throws off the balance and makes the drink overly harsh.
2
Add 25ml of fresh lemon juice and 30ml of simple syrup to the shaker. The citrus and syrup will tame the raw alcohol burn.
!Using bottled lemon juice, which tastes flat and metallic compared to fresh.
3
Fill the shaker about three-quarters full with ice cubes. Seal it tight and shake hard for about 10 seconds until the outside of the shaker feels very cold and frosty.
~10s
!Shaking too gently, which leaves the drink warm and doesn't properly mix the heavy syrup with the spirits.
4
Pop the top off the shaker and fit a Hawthorne strainer over the opening. Pour the contents into your ice-filled highball glass, straining out the shaken ice.
!Pouring too fast and splashing the liquid over the rim of the glass.
5
Top the glass off with a splash of cola. You just need enough to give it that iced tea color and add a little fizz, not fill it to the brim.
!Adding way too much cola, which drowns out the spirits and makes it taste like flat soda.
6
Give the drink a quick stir with a long spoon to pull the cola down through the drink. Wedge a lemon slice on the rim of the glass and serve it with a straw.
!Stirring too aggressively and knocking all the fizz out of the cola.

Serve

Serve it right away while it's still cold and the cola has some fizz. The glass should be full of ice to keep this strong drink from warming up fast.

Variations

Ingredient substitutions

Each row shows what you can swap in place of an original ingredient, and how the drink changes.

Swap options for Triple Sec

Triple SecCointreau
Match
Common availability
Triple Sec → Cointreau: Cointreau is drier and has a cleaner, more pronounced orange flavor without the extra sweetness.

Swap options for Simple Syrup

Simple SyrupGomme Syrup
Match
Specialty availability
Simple Syrup → Gomme Syrup: Gomme syrup adds a slightly silkier mouthfeel and a touch of gum texture, but tastes similarly sweet.

Swap options for White Rum

White RumCachaça
Match
Common availability
White Rum → Cachaça: Cachaça brings a grassy, earthy rum character that adds a bit more bite to the blend.

Similar cocktails

Cousin drinks that share DNA with this one — each profile stands on its own.

Similar cocktail

Tokyo Tea

Tokyo Tea swaps the cola for Midori, giving it a green color and a melon flavor.

Match

Tokyo Tea drinks much sweeter and fruitier, with the melon flavor dominating instead of the subtle cola spice.

In common: Multi-spirit highball, Shaken with citrus, Very strong, Tall glass

Ingredients

Both share

Vodka, White Rum, Gin, Tequila, Triple Sec, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup

Only in Long Island Iced Tea

Cola

Only in Tokyo Tea

Midori

The cola is replaced by Midori melon liqueur, which shifts the drink from a tea-like profile to a fruity, melon-forward flavor.

Flavor

Shared flavors

Strong alcoholic backbone, Sweet and sour citrus base, Cold and refreshing

How Tokyo Tea differs

Fruity melon instead of cola bite, Greener, brighter flavor, Sweeter overall

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Adios Mother Fucker

The AMF uses blue curaçao and Sprite instead of triple sec and cola.

Match

The AMF is brighter and more candy-like, with the orange curaçao and lemon-lime soda pushing it toward a sweeter, fruitier profile than the tea-like original.

In common: Multi-spirit highball, Shaken with citrus, Very strong, Tall glass

Ingredients

Both share

Vodka, White Rum, Gin, Tequila, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup

Only in Long Island Iced Tea

Triple Sec, Cola

Only in Adios Mother Fucker

Blue Curaçao, Sprite

Triple sec is swapped for blue curaçao, adding an orange note and blue color, while Sprite replaces cola for a sweeter, crisper fizz.

Flavor

Shared flavors

Deceptively strong, Sweet and sour, Cold and fizzy

How Adios Mother Fucker differs

Bright orange flavor, Sweeter and less caramel-like, Electric blue color

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Margarita

A Margarita is a short, focused sour rather than a tall, multi-spirit highball.

Match

A Margarita is a tighter, drier drink where the tequila and lime take center stage, without the boozy muddle of extra spirits and soda.

In common: Tequila-based, Citrus-forward, Shaken

Ingredients

Both share

Tequila, Triple Sec, Lemon Juice

Only in Long Island Iced Tea

Vodka, White Rum, Gin, Simple Syrup, Cola

Only in Margarita

Lime Juice, Salt

The Margarita isolates the tequila and triple sec, adding lime instead of lemon, and drops the other three spirits, syrup, and soda entirely.

Flavor

Shared flavors

Tequila bite, Orange liqueur sweetness, Citrus tartness

How Margarita differs

Sharper and drier, No cola sweetness, Focused agave flavor

View recipe & details →

History

Origin

The origin is heavily disputed. The most widely cited claim attributes it to Robert Butt, who says he invented it in 1972 at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York. However, older printed recipes for similar multi-spirit tea-colored drinks exist, and some historians argue the drink evolved from Prohibition-era cocktails designed to disguise bootleg liquor.

Era: 1970s
IBA: Contemporary Classics
Data version: IBA Contemporary Classics
Confidence

The IBA recipe omits the simple syrup found in most modern bar specs, relying only on triple sec for sweetness. The recipe here reflects the common modern pour.

Practical

Tips & pitfalls

What works at home and what to skip when making this drink.

Tips

Worth knowing before you pour

Use a speed pourer to measure the equal spirit parts quickly.
Fresh lemon juice makes a huge difference over the bottled stuff.
Go easy on the cola or it just tastes like flat soda.
Stir it gently after adding the soda to keep the fizz.

Avoid

Common mistakes

Don't skip the fresh lemon juice.
Don't use top-shelf spirits; they get lost in the mix.
Don't add more cola than a quick splash.