Long Island Iced Tea

There are many stories and legends surrounding the Long Island Iced Tea. Unfortunately, the origin of the drink cannot be clearly explained. Many stories are circulating, some of which are probably not true. In the following, we have tried to summarise the funniest and most amusing stories. One legend says that a housewife on Long Island, an island in the American state of New York, “invented” the long drink. She is said to have plundered her husband’s liquor cabinet. For this reason, only a small sip of each spirit was used. This way the husband would not notice that his spirits had been used. She then topped up the drink with sola so that the drink simply looked like a plain glass of cola. Thus she was able to conceal the alcohol content.

According to other stories, the cocktail is believed to have originated during the period of alcohol prohibition in the USA from 1919 to 1932. The “cute” name and the cola-like appearance were supposed to hide the high alcohol content. Therefore, the drink was particularly well suited for Prohibition, during which alcohol was strictly prohibited. Still other stories name Robert C. Butt as the inventor of the mixed drink. He was a bartender at Hampton Bays in the late 1970s. This was a hotel in the American state of New York. However, the drink only became really famous at the end of the 1970s. Whether this story is true can only be guessed at. What is certain is that the long drink originated in the USA and was first prepared and drunk there.