The Long Island iced tea gets an upgrade
The Long Island iced tea gets an upgrade
The Lil Indie’s version was back-bar equivalent of the most unapologetically trashy drink ever shaken or stirred.
I read a lot about Long Island iced teas [LIITs] for this little romp, a fun, off-road jaunt envisioned for June, which is National Iced Tea Month. It’s probably not what the holiday’s founders imagined.
But more interesting than this cocktail’s alleged creation in 1972 at Long Island’s legendary Oak Beach Inn nightclub — the details of which, like most nights drinking them, are murky and elusive — is the fact that people will order them in places like Domu.
“Wait, what? ”Isayto bartender Daniel Messina.
He spent time pouring tony tipples like the lychee martini and Toki old fashioned behind the stick at the East End Market restaurant, which has a notable cocktail program.
“You know, people drink what they drink,” he says. “And if that’s what they’re accustomed to, they’re going to order it without really thinking about where they are and what the place offers.”
These days, Messina is “Director of Lamps” at Ann Teague’s Lamp Supply. Domu’s a few years in his resume’s rear-view, but he’s also spent time at the Robinson Cocktail Lounge — another hotbed for LIITs, he says — and the Wellborn (the Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards Critic’s Pick for Best Patio) before signing on at the kitschy downtown haunt.
“The Long Island iced tea hearkens back to hair gel and tanning lotion for me,” says Messina. He’s from New Jersey, but the description is no less apt for Long Islanders like me who hit Jones Beach versus those who went down the Shore.
“It’s fun to think of those days, though,” he admits. “A completely different time in your life.”
Indeed. If you can remember it.
The well standards that make up the Long Island iced tea, oft busted out with Tom Cruise “Cocktail” moves in places like the fabled Oak Beach Inn, are vodka, gin, rum, tequila and triple sec. Add sour mix or lemon juice, top with cola and you’ve got an impossible miracle of mixological chemistry: a drink that seems cobbled together with half-consumed leftovers from the bus tub that somehow tastes like tea.
It’s one of those drinks, a five-booze heavyweight that can set off the management’s radar from a mile away.
“As a bar owner or staffer, you hear that order and you kind of just start prepping for the mess that might happen,” says Will Walker with a chuckle. “There’s a percentage of people who drink those who are just in it to ass-out.”
Walker’s venerable, eponymous Mills 50 club has served its fair share, and its adjacent craft-cocktail haunt, Lil’ Indies, spun up the mother of all Long Islands a few years back. In part, says Walker, to stave off the “dude bros” who tend to order them.
“It was super expensive. And funny,” he says. And it was.
The Lil Indie’s version pulled out all the stops, featuring Grey Goose VX, Monkey 47 Dry Gin, Bacardi Limitada, Don Julio 1942 and Grand Marnier — it was the back
bar equivalent of the most unapologetically trashy drink ever shaken or stirred.
They called it the Disposable Income. It cost $55. And it came with a garnish of lemon and garish gold jewelry.
They sold more than a few.
“Drunk people do things that make them laugh,” says Walker. “This is one of them.”
But can the Long Island iced tea be elevated genuinely? Apparently so — a 2018 article from Edible Long Island (How To Reimagine the Long Island Iced Tea Without Ruining It; ediblelongisland. com/2018/06/14/the-longisland-iced-tea-grows-up/) neatly showcases what happens when skill and a sense of humor meet affection for something that’s kinda stupid, but still yours.
There’s a respect for the drink (which features fresh lemon juice, Fernet-Branca and Prosecco alongside high-end spirits and Mexican Coke), however ridiculous that sounds. Except that despite its rampant popularity just about everywhere, the Long Island iced tea doesn’t get much respect outside of home.
“Would you put an elevated Long Island iced tea on your bar menu?” I ask Messina.
He hesitates. “Welllll, maybe for the article …”
I point out that Ann Teague’s Lamp Supply, for all its drams and shrubs and tepaches, also runs a standing special on White Claw. Three flavors!
He laughs. “Yeah, it’s a high dive bar.”
As such, Messina’s upmarket version of the drink will be available at Anne Teague’s until his fresh-batched cola reduction runs out.
Feeling flush and ready to get messy? You’ll also find the Disposable Income back on the menu at Lil’ Indies. Download Uber if you don’t have it already. And splash on some Drakkar Noir.
Of course, you could always mix up a few at home and party like it’s whatever retro decade you’re either from or presently emulating via fashion. Fear not, the Long Island iced tea never goes out.
“It just gets passed down from generation to generation,” says Messina.
If you go: Lil’ Indies (located at Will’s Pub) 1042 N. Mills Ave. in Orlando, willspub.org/, Ann Teague’s Lamp Supply, 22 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando, annteagues. com/
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@ orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things. orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
The Long Island: Two Ways.
Anne Teague’s Daniel Messina gave us two specs on the Long Island, the classic and a pinkies-up variation.
LIIT: The Classic Ingredients
½ ounce gin
½ ounce tequila
½ ounce rum
½ ounce triple sec
½ ounce simple syrup
¾ ounce lemon juice
Top with Coke
Directions
Add all contents, minus the Coke, to a shaker tin. Shake and strain into a Collins glass. Add ice. Top with Coke. “Let’s be real,” he adds, “we don’t really need to garnish this. (Optional garnish: lemon wedge or wheel.)
LIIT: The Upgrade
This version requires home carbonation using a whipping gadget, such as the iSi Creative Whip (runs between $60-80 based on a quick online search). You can also use it to whip cream, make soups, batters, sauces, espumas and more depending on which type you get. More info: creativewhip. com/carbonatedbeverages-101/. Ingredients
½ ounce Wodka Vodka (“a beautiful Polish rye vodka,” says Messina)
½ ounce Hayman’s London dry gin
½ ounce Altos Blanco Tequila ½ ounce Probitas White Blended Rum
½ ounce Brovo Curaçao
½ ounce Coca-Cola reduction
¾ ounce lemon juice
For the cola reduction Pour three 12-oz. cans of the cola of your choice into a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until volume decreases to
1/6 original volume (roughly 6 oz.) — about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
To batch
(makes 8 cocktails): Increase all ½-oz. measurements to
½ cup. Increase lemon juice to ¾ cup. Mix in container and chill in freezer for one hour (cold temperatures aid in carbonation). Makes 8 cocktails.
Directions
“To batched mixture, add 25 percent water,” says Messina. “This accounts for the lack of dilution, as there is no shaking. Add this to iSi whipper to max fill line. Charge with CO2, shake, add one more charge and boom! You’re good to go.” Serve in Collins glass over ice with lemon garnish.