Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea – A Couple Cooks

March 18, 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! Be taught the elements, substitution ideas, and tips on how to make a pitcher model for a crowd.

There’s one thing nearly magnetic a couple of blue drink: do you’re feeling it too? For some purpose I’ve all the time been interested in drinks this coloration, and this one tastes surprisingly contemporary and candy tart: the Blue Lengthy Island, aka Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea! After all, the normal Lengthy Island Iced Tea has a little bit of a repute for being a low-brow, excessive alcohol drink.

However this recipe really has refreshing, nuanced taste and much less alcohol than most cocktails! It makes use of blue curacao for its ocean-hued coloration, and it provides a stunning citrusy taste. It’s one in all 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 title comes from its coloration: the drink is brown when blended collectively and appears like iced tea. It was probably invented in 1972 by a bartender in Lengthy Island, New York, and went on to change into a preferred cocktail on the checklist 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 kind of orange liqueur with a brilliant blue coloration, made on the island of Curacao. This recipe additionally swaps cola for ginger ale, which is lighter in coloration. 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. When you don’t have all of the others, that’s okay! Preserve studying for extra about this signature alcohol and what you possibly can 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 brilliant blue coloration. 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 most well-liked immediately are clear and blue. Blue curacao has been bought since 1912. It’s flavored with the Laraha orange peel, a kind of orange that grows on the island.
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 utilize it for? A lot of blue drinks! Combine up a Blue Margarita, Blue Hawaii, Aqua Velva, or Blue Lagoon.

Make a Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea

When you’ve assembled all the elements, 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 assume! It’s just like a lot of my 300+ cocktails, particularly the opposite highball cocktails. Right here’s what to do (or scroll right 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 model drink. It makes use of nearly every part within the liquor cupboard! Fortunately, you don’t must have all the elements to make a tasty BLIIT. Listed here are a number of recommendations on substitutions:

Vodka, tequila, or gin: Go away 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 at the least three of the 4 primary liquors in case you can. Two of the 4 may work.
White rum: Use aged rum in case you don’t have white. You can use darkish rum: simply notice that the colour of the drink can be darker!

The Finest Ginger Ale to Use

The ginger ale makes for a deliciously contemporary Blue Lengthy Island Iced Tea. In truth, I prefer it higher than the usual model of the drink! (Particularly as a result of I don’t typically 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 a bit 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 eight 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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