“Thinking” of long island iced tea

I recently started a new job in a field I haven’t worked in for about 8 years.  Thankfully one aspect was like riding a bike but some of the training makes my brain hurt.  I joked that the hardest thing I had to think about the past few years as a bartender was how to make a long island iced tea.  And while I love this new job and i’m so thankful to have the opportunity, I stress myself out not learning fast enough and it makes me want to drink many long island iced teas.

My version of this cocktail turned out better than i expected when i realized i didn’t make the simple syrup the way i was supposed to.  Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water simmered on the stove until sugar is dissolved then let it cool.  The fun part of simple syrup is the many different additions you can add to the syrup. In this case I used the juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime.  The recipe called for the juice of 3 lemons.  Oops! My bad turned out to be my good.

The establishment where I bartend is not a fancy place.  More of a shithole  shot and a beer type of place.  We use pre-made sour mix instead of a homemade simple syrup.  The other ingredients to remember are 5 white liquors- vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and triple sec. The one nice thing about these liquors is because of the combination you really don’t have to worry about buying “top shelf” or expensive brands.  A small splash of cola, in my case i use coke zero.  Just because that’s my preference for “cola.”

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA

Makes 1 serving (that may be all you need!)

1 oz vodka

1 oz gin

1 oz tequila

1 oz white rum

1 oz triple sec

1/4 cup homemade lemon-lime simple syrup

splash of cola

fill a 16 oz glass with ice.  pour 5 white liquors into glass.  add simple syrup and splash of cola.  stir ingredients or combine all in a shaker then pour.

lemon-lime simple syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

combine ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer on stove until sugar is dissolved. do not let it boil. cool. store in refrigerator.

Cheers!!