Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

March 23, 2026

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This Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea is an ocean-blue cocktail with tangy, citrusy taste and fewer alcohol than you’d count on: prepared in simply 5 minutes! Be taught the elements, substitution ideas, and tips on how to make a pitcher model for a crowd.

There’s one thing nearly magnetic a few blue drink: do you are feeling it too? For some cause I’ve all the time been drawn to drinks this colour, and this one tastes surprisingly recent and candy tart: the Blue Lengthy Island, aka Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea! After all, the standard Lengthy Island Iced Tea has a little bit of a status for being a low-brow, excessive alcohol drink.

However this recipe really has refreshing, nuanced taste and much less alcohol than most cocktails! It makes use of blue curacao for its ocean-hued colour, and it provides a beautiful citrusy taste. It’s one in all my favourite blue drinks!

Substances for a Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

The Lengthy Island Iced Tea is a highball cocktail that mixes cola with 5 completely different liquors: vodka, tequila, rum, gin and orange liqueur. The title comes from its colour: the drink is brown when blended collectively and appears like iced tea. It was seemingly invented in 1972 by a bartender in Lengthy Island, New York, and went on to grow to be a well-liked cocktail on the checklist of the Worldwide Bartender Affiliation’s IBA official cocktails.

A Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea, aka Blue Lengthy Island for brief, swaps out the orange liqueur for blue curacao. Blue curacao is a kind of orange liqueur with a vivid blue colour, made on the island of Curacao. This recipe additionally swaps cola for ginger ale, which is lighter in colour. For this recipe, you’ll want:

Vodka
Tequila
White rum
Gin
Blue curacao
Lemon juice
Ginger ale

Tip: A very powerful ingredient, in fact, is the blue curacao. If you happen to don’t have all of the others, that’s okay! Hold studying for extra about this signature alcohol and what you may substitute for the others.

Highlight on Blue Curacao

A very powerful a part of any blue drink, together with the Blue Lengthy Island? Blue curacao! That is what offers the drink its vivid blue colour. Right here’s what to know:

Blue curacao is an artificially-colored orange liqueur invented by Dutch settlers on the island of Curaçao. There are a number of colours of Curaçao: the preferred as we speak are clear and blue. Blue curacao has been bought since 1912. It’s flavored with the Laraha orange peel, a kind of orange that grows on the island.
Easy methods to pronounce Curaçao? Say it Treatment-ah-souw.
What does blue curacao style like? It has a candy orange peel taste, with refined bitter end.
How a lot does it price? Blue curacao is cheap; a 750 ml bottle prices about $10. Attempt to purchase a mid-range bottle; we like Drillaud model (keep away from DeKuyper).
What else can you utilize it for? A lot of blue drinks! Combine up a Blue Margarita, Blue Hawaii, Aqua Velva, or Blue Lagoon.

Easy methods to Make a Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

When you’ve assembled the entire elements, the Blue Lengthy Island comes collectively in a flash! The flavors come out extremely recent and scrumptious. This drink has solely 2.5 ounces alcohol, so it’s not as boozy as you suppose! It’s just like lots of my 300+ cocktails, particularly the opposite highball cocktails. Right here’s what to do (or scroll right down to the recipe):

Mix: Pour the vodka, tequila, white rum, gin, blue curacao, and lemon juice right into a highball glass.
Ice and stir: Fill the glass with ice and stir to mix.
Prime and garnish: Add ginger ale and end with a lemon wedge.

Can You Substitute the Liquors?

The Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea is a little bit of a kitchen sink model drink. It makes use of nearly every part within the liquor cupboard! Fortunately, you don’t must have the entire elements to make a tasty BLIIT. Listed here are a number of tips about substitutions:

Vodka, tequila, or gin: Go away one of those out and double one of many different liquors. For instance, for those who don’t have gin double the tequila. Attempt to have a minimum of three of the 4 principal liquors for those who can. Two of the 4 may work.
White rum: Use aged rum for those who don’t have white. You could possibly use darkish rum: simply notice that the colour of the drink might be darker!

The Finest Ginger Ale to Use

The ginger ale makes for a deliciously recent Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea. In actual fact, I prefer it higher than the commonplace model of the drink! (Particularly as a result of I don’t usually purchase cola.) You should utilize any model you want, however listed here are some favorites:

Q Ginger Ale: That is my best choice! It is available in small cans so that you solely have to make use of somewhat at a time.
Fever Tree Ginger Ale: Fever Tree is made with actual ginger and has no synthetic sweeteners.

Need extra drinks with ginger ale? Go to 8 Traditional Ginger Ale Cocktails.

Make It for a Crowd: Pitcher Model

This cocktail scales up effectively for events. To make a pitcher (8 servings): mix ½ cup every of vodka, tequila, white rum, gin, and blue curacao with 1 cup of recent lemon juice. Add 2½ cups ginger ale. Pour into ice-filled highball glasses to serve.

Variations on the Lengthy Island Iced Tea

There are a number of different methods to make this basic cocktail! Listed here are a pair different variations so as to add on to the Blue Lengthy Island:

Lengthy Island Iced Tea The basic! 5 liquors plus cola.
Tokyo Tea This inexperienced variation makes use of Midori for a tangy melon flavored-spin.
Lengthy Seashore Iced Tea Add cranberry juice for a recent, tart spin.

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