"If it's been a while, head over to your local bar. Tell the bartender you don't need to see their list of $36 artisanal craft cocktails, thank you. You don't want their watered-down fruit juice in a tiny glass, and if there's a teaspoon of tequila in there, you count yourself lucky. What you want is a Long Island Iced Tea. It's the strong magic potion you're looking for, and here at Esquire, we fully endorse it."
"If it were called the St. Barts Thé Glacé, even the snobbiest bartend... uh, mixologist would keep it top of the menu. Where has the Long Island Iced Tea gone? We ordered the drink at an Esquire party recently. To our horror, no one under 30 had ever tasted one. No better time than now to bring it back. Because why spend the money on five drinks when one will do? And yes, it is that potent."
The Long Island Iced Tea is framed as a 'magic potion'—a brain-busting, euphoria-inducing mixed drink that values raw potency over artisanal pretension. Patrons are urged to choose one powerful cocktail rather than multiple expensive, watered-down craft drinks. A generational gap is noted, with many under 30 reportedly never having tasted a Long Island Iced Tea, prompting a call for its revival. Bartending authority David Wondrich says he occasionally makes them to 'break people's brains.' The drink is linked to Long Island nightlife lore and a 1970s origin story involving bartender Robert 'Rosebud' Butt.
Read at Esquire
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