Black Russian
50 ml Vodka, 20 ml Coffee liqueur
Long Island Iced Tea
Every bottle on the shelf, and it still tastes like a cold drink.
Classic
Easy
4 min
Photo: Long Island Iced Tea 01 by Arnaud 25 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Vodka
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Tequila blanco
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. White rum
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Gin
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Triple sec - Cointreau if you have it, which is what the original asks for
- 150 ml Jigger Three large sides (3 x 50 ml) of a standard jigger. Lemon juice - Freshly squeezed, and please do not skip it
- 180 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 180 ml line. Simple syrup
- 180 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 180 ml line. Cola - Just enough to colour it and no more
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Build the five spirits, the lemon and the syrup over ice in a tall glass.
- Stir well, then top with a splash of cola for the colour - and the name.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 960 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a highball glass with ice and leave it to chill while you gather the bottles.
- Pour in the vodka, tequila, white rum, gin and triple sec.
- Add the lemon juice and the syrup.
- Stir for a good ten seconds - this is a strong drink and the ice is doing the diluting.
- Top with a short splash of cola, stir once more, and finish with a slice of lemon.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Long Island Iced Tea
There is no tea in it. There is, near enough, everything else - and the drink was born, so the story goes, in the 1970s at a bar on Long Island where a barman called Bob was asked for something that tasted like iced tea and quietly made something that did not. Whether or not that is exactly how it happened, it is exactly how it drinks: pale brown, sweet, easy, and about four times stronger than anybody expects.
Getting it right
The whole art is restraint. Five spirits measured small - roughly a tablespoon each - is a proper drink; five spirits poured generously is a ruined evening. Use fresh lemon juice, because it is the only thing standing between all that sugar and all that alcohol, and keep the cola to a splash: it is there for the colour and the last bit of fizz, not for the taste. Serve it long, over plenty of ice, and drink it slowly. It rewards being treated like a long drink rather than a short one, which is the trick it was built to play.
Tasting notes
Sweet, citrussy and dangerously smooth, with faint whiffs of all five bottles arguing quietly underneath. It tastes like a summer afternoon - and then you stand up.
If five bottles feels like a lot for one glass, that is because it is: a common modern build doubles each spirit, which makes a drink that is longer in the teeth than in the glass. Start here, and only move up if you have eaten.
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