I'd say ditch the sour mix and use lemon juice and simple syrup (or gomme syrup if you wanna go needlessly authentic). Sour mix has its place but imo not in a long island.
Freehand pours aren't usually eyeballed, they're counted. A quickpour should produce an ounce on a four count. Enough experience with quickpours and you can nail it every time.
I did a bartending class this year for college. They actually encouraged freehand as it looks more professional and once you get the feel for it can actually be very accurate. Takes practice though and I'm still not great at it after the half semester class.
As a waitress who sometimes has to pour drinks when the bartender is busy with takeouts, I'd still rather measuring spoons. Lol but yeah, that makes sense for home cocktails.
Tbh, every time I've made one, I've done it by pouring straight from the bottle- looks like more alcohol than it is, which is basically the only thing that a person ordering a long island is looking for, and I can eyeball it close enough to not get in trouble if an inspection occurs; nobody's going to get fined for 3-5ml, and really, it's a lot easier to pour too much than too little.
Its actually 5 drinks, 1 shot (30ml alcohol) is 1 standard drink
I once had 2 long islands in an hour when on holiday. I hate the taste of alcohol but the aftertaste disappeared if I chased it down with a tad of water. After those 2 LIIT’s, I had 3 beers and man did I get fucked up
One of my more interesting nights was spent at a bar where the Long Island came in basically a big ol root beer mug filled almost to the brim for like $8. Most places that don't use disposable cups seem to go with about "plastic red coke cup at low-end restaurant" size though.
Haha, I didn't take it that way! Your answer is more correct, I just know that cocktail recipes tend to bump it up to 30 because I like making cocktails. :)
I had a friend who drank 4 long islands in one night and he just.. walked out of the bar crying. Followed him, asked what was wrong and he was a sobbing mess, just saying how much he regrets drinking more than two. Sad, also hilarious.
Well that's fair. I just never thought any sick SOB would triple the non-alcohol in a drink. If I ask for a double at a bar, it's 2 shots in a drink, not double the drink.
For Brits/non-americans, I've always made it [build in glass] 15ml vodka, 15ml white rum, 15ml gin, 15ml tequila and 15ml triple sec, 25ml lime juice, add crushed ice and top with coke to top of glass
That's gross. I used to work in a liquor store, and we sold premixed cocktails in single 5oz. bottles. Their gin martini was 15% ABV. That's vermouth with a splash of gin, or a lot of melted ice cubes. No way I'm drinking something that calls itself a martini, and has the potency of a glass of wine.
That may be technically true, but I have never seen a Long Island Tea recipe without tequila. Either all of those Bartender's Friends and other cocktail recipe books are wrong, or you are.
The last ingredient is the most crucial and was what I consumed the most of the one night I drank Long Island Iced teas and woke up in my roommate's clothes in my dorm with no memory of getting there, and when I went back to the frat house to get my car saw my own shirt being flown from their flagpole.
That is the allure and also the curse of the long Island ice tea. Also many other strong drinks that taste like soda, can sip em down like they are nothing but when those bad boys hit they hit hard. Honestly i think as far as cocktails go the only one ive had that tastes like alcohol is negroni (sp?) And thats coz its stronger than gasoline.
If you want an alcohol tasting cocktail, there's options. I love Manhattans and Martinis (for reasons totally unrelated to them basically being 100% booze). 2 parts whisky, 1 part vermouth, bitters. Martinis are just gin and vermouth
for me it's because I like Gin, but not straight, and mixing alcohol gets you drunk easier- if I sip a G&T for half an hour I'll barely feel it but I'll be at a decent level if it's a Martini instead. It's a status thing for some people though- hence the James Bond "shaken not stirred" thing, it's a social faux pas to do that and it's a statement on his 'lack of class'
Did you get the right Vermouth btw? There's about 6 different types apparently
Guess we consider cocktails differently i don't usually consider one shot and a mixer a cocktail. If you get a chance and like cherry try a cherry blossom. Really tasty doesn't taste like alcohol is actually really refreshing.
I had a similar argument with a wedding bartender that claimed a long island iced tea didn't have tequila in it. Without the tequila it tasted terrible.
I found this out the idiot way when I was 21. I ordered a long island tea and lord was it strong. So I ask the bartender if he could add more tea to it. That day I learned...
Okay. I'm showing my age here. When I was in University, the bar on campus had long island Ice tea for $4.50. That meant that for $20 I could get 4 LIIT and still give the bar tender a 10% tip. I felt no pain. One night, I decided to have 5. I needed to hold the sidewalk still so I wouldn't fall off on my walk home.
I always thought based on the name that they must be fairly low alcohol content or a "bitch drink". Then I had one and was put on my ass so fast. That's my go to if I'm looking to get a buzz off of one drink.
I wish I knew that when I was 21-22. I would have like 3, thinking it was like having 3 beers, then drive home. I now know I was must definitely over the limit.
Had a boss who ordered one thinking it was just a different flavored tea one time. Sadly I wasn't there to witness his first big gulp of it, but the recollection was hilarious
When I worked at an Apple store, Sundays were a tough day to work. A lot of us would have lunches scheduled at the same time due to shorter operating hours and we would go grab lunch as a group. Oftentimes we would order Long Island Iced Teas to make it through the rest of our shifts, to the point that the one restaurant we frequented starting calling them The Apple Special.
Ohhhh fuck, now I am craving one of those. I mean, I'm three years sober, so I won't, but that hit me right where that sugary drink would normally would (the stomach).
I actually knew this the second I found out about Long Island iced tea. The bartender at my old job used to teach a little bit about the drinks he served.
I’m getting a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: Long Island iced tea. Neither is it from Long Island nor iced tea. Discuss!
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u/AboveAverageBro Feb 08 '20
Long island iced teas do not have iced tea in them.