Long Beach Iced Tea Recipe: The Cranberry Iced Tea

Long Beach Iced Tea

Same five spirit base as its famous sibling, but with cranberry juice where the cola usually goes. The result is ruby red, tarter and fruitier than a Long Island, and just as easy to underestimate.

3Editors’ rating

Taste3.2

Balance2.9

Easy to make3.8

Popularity40

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GlassCollins glass

TechniqueBuilt in the glass

DifficultyEasy

Time4 min

StrengthMedium (approx. 14 % ABV)

OriginUnited States

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Ingredients

½ oz vodkae.g. Absolut · Smirnoff · Grey Goose · Ketel One · Belvedere
½ oz white rume.g. Bacardi · Havana Club · Plantation · Don Q · Flor de Caña
½ oz blanco tequilae.g. Olmeca Altos · Patrón · Don Julio · Espolòn · El Jimador
½ oz London dry gine.g. Tanqueray · Gordon's · Beefeater · Bombay Sapphire · Sipsmith
½ oz triple sece.g. Cointreau · Bols · Marie Brizard · DeKuyper · Giffard
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
2 oz cranberry juice to top

Garnish: Lemon wheel · Ice: Ice cubes

Method

Fill a Collins glass with ice cubes.
Add vodka, rum, tequila, gin, triple sec, lemon juice and simple syrup.
Stir briefly to combine.
Top with cranberry juice and give one gentle stir.
Garnish with a lemon wheel and serve with a straw.

Watch it made

Long Beach Iced Tea

Taste

Tart and fruity with cranberry and lemon up front and a warm, spirity backbone. Strong, despite its juicy taste.

History and origin

The Long Beach Iced Tea is one of the many regional spin-offs of the Long Island Iced Tea, which became a bar staple in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. Bartenders kept the base of vodka, rum, tequila, gin, triple sec and sour mix, and simply changed the topper, naming each version after a different place.

Cranberry juice, by then one of the most popular mixers in American bars, turns it into the Long Beach. There is no documented creator; the name simply keeps the "Long" of the original and swaps the island for a beach. Other members of the family include the Tokyo Tea with melon liqueur and the Electric Iced Tea with blue curaçao.

Bartender tips

Measure every spirit: free pouring five bottles is how this drink goes wrong.
Use unsweetened or lightly sweetened cranberry juice; the syrup already brings sugar.
Shaking the base with ice before topping gives a colder, better integrated drink.

Variations

Long Island Iced Tea: The original with cola instead of cranberry juice.
Tokyo Tea: Adds melon liqueur to the base and swaps cranberry for lemon-lime soda, bright green in the glass.