How far is Long Island?

A dark smoky nightclub echoing the sounds of roaring jazz. The right time and place to create one of the most legendary cocktails, Long Island Iced Tea. While jazz music predated Prohibition, the new law restricting liquor promoted the future of jazz by creating a nationwide underground nightclub culture. The 1920s are often called the Jazz Age because jazz music became very popular during that time.

The story of the origin of this legendary cocktail is as misty as the head the day after enjoying its great taste. Tequila, vodka, triple sec, gin, and rum, each of these drinks carries its dangers if drunk too much. And just a mixture of all these alcoholic beverages is a recipe for Long Island. Dangerous drink for dangerous times. It is possible that the general ban on alcohol stimulated the imagination to mix drinks and create cocktails. Booze was less free-flowing then, drinks were required to be stronger.

It was during this tumultuous time that a drink called the “Old Man Bishop” was concocted in a local community named Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee by a man named—wait for it— Charlie Bishop aka Old Man Bishop Aka Old Man Bishop. Legend has it that this drink was the ancestor of Long Island. According to another story, this cocktail was created only in 1970. In this version, a bartender from Long Island, New York, named Robert Butt created the Long Island Iced Tea during a 1972 cocktail-crafting competition. This story might draw attention if its source was not Butt personally. He says they put a bottle of Triple Sec on the bar and challenge 20 bartenders to make a drink.

Vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec, plus lime, cola and plenty of ice should be the original recipe for Long Island Iced Tea, so-called for its resemblance to its sober namesake drink. The only difference is that this cocktail contains an alcohol concentration of about 22 percent. This makes it one of the favorites of serious booze lovers, but also one of the serious causes of hangovers if exaggerated.

Long Island has its presence all over the world, with bartenders habitually trying to improvise on it and “reinvent” it. But there looks to be a consent by worldwide drunkards of the world that the classic recipe is always and forever their favorite one.

As for questions from the blog title the best Long Island cocktails are waiting for you at one of our locations. Vodka, tequila Blanco, gin, whiskey, orange liqueur, fresh sour mix, a splash of coke is our winning combination. Come and try it!