Long Island Iced Tea

Ingredients

-.5 oz gin (I used Gordans)

-.5 oz rum (I used Bacardi 151)

-.5 oz vodka (I used Smirnoff Original)

-.5 oz triple sec

-3 oz sweet and sour mix

                -The sweet and sour mix is just lemon juice (sour) mixed with sugar (sweet), one part lemon for each part sugar

-Fill to top with cola (I used coke)

-Lemon wedge for garnish

Prep

                Make the sweet and sour mix by mixing 1 oz lemon juice with 1 oz sugar and 1 oz water.  Mix the sweet and sour mix, gin, rum, vodka, and triple sec into a glass together, fill them glass up to the top with cola, and stick a lemon wedge on the side if you want extra presentation points.

Costs

-The bottles of gin, rum, and vodka will be the biggest expense, assuming that you don’t already have them.  Each bottle’s cost varies depending on the quality of the bottles you buy

-A bottle of triple sec should cost about $8

- The sweet and sour mix should cost about $1 (2 lemons+ a little sugar)

-A 2 liter bottle of coke costs about $2

So overall, once you have the alcohol you need for this drink, each individual drink should cost about $1.50… not bad for a drink that goes for double or triple that at any bar or restaurant!

Thoughts

As a few of you may have noticed, the recipe I used to make my Long Island Iced Tea last night is from Applebees.  I used to go there every Friday, when they had $4 dollar long island iced teas, and loved them.  It was a triple threat- great taste, good amount of alcohol, and a bargain at only $4.  But $4 is still a good amount of money to dish out on one drink.  I mean, it’s half an hours work for someone making minimum wage!  So I gripped the recipe online and  made my own Applebee’s long island iced tea.  It tastes just as good as the one they make, and If I turn on my radio (to 104.5) it almost feels like I’m sitting in a booth at Applebees as I sip it.  Minus the annoying waiters, and one guy at the bar whos clearly had too many $4 Long Islands.