Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea – A Couple Cooks

19 de March de 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! Study the components, substitution suggestions, and find out how to make a pitcher model for a crowd.

There’s one thing virtually magnetic a few blue drink: do you are feeling it too? For some purpose I’ve all the time been drawn to drinks this shade, and this one tastes surprisingly contemporary 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 repute for being a low-brow, excessive alcohol drink.

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

Components for a Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

The Lengthy Island Iced Tea is a highball cocktail that mixes cola with 5 totally different liquors: vodka, tequila, rum, gin and orange liqueur. The identify comes from its shade: the drink is brown when combined collectively and appears like iced tea. It was seemingly invented in 1972 by a bartender in Lengthy Island, New York, and went on to turn out to be a well-liked cocktail on the record 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 sort of orange liqueur with a shiny blue shade, made on the island of Curacao. This recipe additionally swaps cola for ginger ale, which is lighter in shade. For this recipe, you’ll want:

Vodka
Tequila
White rum
Gin
Blue curacao
Lemon juice
Ginger ale

Tip: A very powerful ingredient, after all, is the blue curacao. In the event you don’t have all of the others, that’s okay! Maintain 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 provides the drink its shiny blue shade. 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 immediately are clear and blue. Blue curacao has been offered since 1912. It’s flavored with the Laraha orange peel, a sort of orange that grows on the island.
The best way to pronounce Curaçao? Say it Treatment-ah-souw.
What does blue curacao style like? It has a candy orange peel taste, with delicate bitter end.
How a lot does it value? 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 employ it for? Plenty of blue drinks! Combine up a Blue Margarita, Blue Hawaii, Aqua Velva, or Blue Lagoon.

The best way to Make a Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

When you’ve assembled the entire components, the Blue Lengthy Island comes collectively in a flash! The flavors come out extremely contemporary 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 all the way 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.
High 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 fashion drink. It makes use of nearly all the things within the liquor cupboard! Fortunately, you don’t must have the entire components to make a tasty BLIIT. Listed here are a number of recommendations on substitutions:

Vodka, tequila, or gin: Depart one of those out and double one of many different liquors. For instance, in case you don’t have gin double the tequila. Attempt to have not less than three of the 4 most important liquors in case you can. Two of the 4 may work.
White rum: Use aged rum in case you don’t have white. You might use darkish rum: simply observe that the colour of the drink will probably be darker!

The Finest Ginger Ale to Use

The ginger ale makes for a deliciously contemporary Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea. The truth is, I prefer it higher than the normal model of the drink! (Particularly as a result of I don’t usually purchase cola.) You should use 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 Basic Ginger Ale Cocktails.

Make It for a Crowd: Pitcher Model

This cocktail scales up properly 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 contemporary 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:

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