The Long Island iced tea is traditionally made with equal parts light rum, vodka, tequila, gin and triple sec, plus cola and lemon juice.
Despite its name and cola color, the drink contains no brewed tea. Its usual construction combines several spirits with lemon juice and a small amount of cola, producing a sweet-and-sour drink with a deceptively mild appearance. The recipe became especially associated with American bars from the 1970s onward.
Robert “Rosebud” Butt is often credited with creating the cocktail in 1972 at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York. A competing story places an earlier version in a Tennessee community also called Long Island, so the historical origin is not completely settled.
The drink is frequently confused with similarly named variations. An Adios motherfucker generally uses blue curaçao and a lemon-lime mixer, while a Tokyo Tea typically includes Midori. Those substitutions change both the color and the recipe.