Ingredients
- ½ ounce vodka
- ½ ounce gin
- ½ ounce white rum
- ½ ounce tequila
- ¾ ounce blue curaçao (Also used in a walk me down drink)
- 1½ ounces lemonade
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball glass, add ice, vodka, gin, white rum, tequila, blue curaçao, and lemonade.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
Variations and Substitutions
The blue Long Island iced tea, while it loosely follows a standard recipe, does have some wiggle room for deviation.
- While you don't want to skip certain ingredients, you can play with flavors. Don't go over an ounce of one type of liquor, and certainly don't go overboard. Limit the total amount of booze to 2 ounces before adding the blue curaçao.
- Opt for a full ounce of blue curaçao for a bluer look.
- Use a flavored vodka, specifically blueberry with a blue hue, to up the blue color, as well.
- Go with a flavored rum when using plain vodka to add additional flavors. Think about coconut or pineapple rum.
- Instead of lemonade, use limeade.
- Replace half of the blue curaçao with raspberry liqueur to make a Grateful Dead cocktail.
- Try a bullfrog drink recipe, which is similar to the blue Long Island iced tea.
- Beer lovers, give this lager-containing version of Long Island iced tea--the Baltimore zoo cocktail.
Garnishes
Just because the blue Long Island iced tea calls for a lime wheel doesn't mean you need to feel stuck with this; you can get as fun or keep it as tame as you want.
- Use a lime wedge or slice instead of a wheel.
- Likewise, you can use a lime peel, twist, ribbon, or coin. This can be done in addition to the lime slices or on their own.
- Orange also adds a fresh spin. Like the lemon and lime, you can use a peel, twist, ribbon, or coin as well as a wedge, wheel, or slice.
- Consider the different citrus flavors in combination: an orange twist with a lemon wheel, two citrus ribbons wrapped together, a lime wedge with a lemon slice. The mixes are endless.
- Add a cherry for a pop of color. This, too, can be a standalone garnish or with a citrus element.
About the Blue Long Island Iced Tea
The Long Island ice tea first stumbled onto the scene in a big way during the 1970s and has never left the party. Its first party isn't quite known, but it's a drink that has long existed in some form or another. With four spirits spinning around the ice with just a splash of mixer to hold it all together, somehow, the Long Island iced tea is a storm of a cocktail.
The blue Long Island iced tea, despite its innocent and light-weight appearance, is no different aside from its sweet blue curaçao flavors and choice of lemonade instead of coke. The sibling of the classic LIT only lives in the shadow because it isn't as well known. A cousin of the Adios Mother, which uses sweet and sour mix and lemon-lime soda, the Blue LIT is a drink to both be wary of and respect.
A One Way Train Ticket
The blue Long Island iced tea is a one-way ticket to ditching responsibilities for the rest of the day. This boozy concoction delivers on flavor, and its fun blue hue is sure to have others asking what you're drinking and whether you'll share. The choice is yours. Maybe play it safe and just post it to social media so you can enjoy your quiet afternoon off.
