Paulius Musteikis
That does look refreshing! The Long Island Iced Tea at the Red Shed.
The Long Island Iced Tea is a hotly contested drink. Even its origin is disputed (it hails either from Long Island, N.Y., or, in another likely story, Long Island, Tenn.). Many will argue it’s not a cocktail at all, but rather a liquid recipe for sure ruin. These buzzkills see the drink only as an expedient method by which co-eds get drunk. Defenders, such as the father of modern mixology himself, Dale DeGroff, argue that good versions are possible.
The modern recipe for the Long Island is an ounce each of vodka, rum, gin, tequila and triple sec, topped with cola and lemon. Done right, the result has a remarkable tea-like flavor, more refreshing and mild than the ingredients might suggest.
A number of spots in Madison claim to be the premier spot for these heady drinks, and the Red Shed, 406 N. Frances St., promotes them heavily. There the drink comes in a massive jar, and while they use an Arrow mix (combining all the liquor into one), there is something strangely compelling about this oversized drink, so right on a hot afternoon (so wrong if you consume more than one).
The other longstanding Long Island contender is the Plaza, 319 N. Henry St., which surprisingly follows DeGroff’s suggestion for improving the cocktail — simply halve it! Heavy on the cola and built in a short rocks glass, the Plaza’s Long Island proves that perhaps overindulging should at least be divided into two stages. It’s as tasty as the Red Shed version, proving that in the end, it’s a question of style.
