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The strip of land near New York City has long been a launchpad for icons of American culture -- the first planned suburban community, comedians like Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal, musicians from Mariah Carey to John Tesh, and the Belmont Stakes horse race. Sometime in the 1970s, the area spawned a cocktail that carried the Long Island name to frat parties everywhere. For such a powerful potable, the Long Island Iced Tea has a fairly
short and uneventful background. Sometime around 1976, a bartender at the Oak Beach Inn of Hampton Bays, Long Island, concocted a drink from equal parts vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and triple sec, plus some cola to give it a tealike color. Robert "Rosebud" Butt was the inventor, and his drink spread quickly. By the mid-1980s, the Long Island Iced Tea was a mainstay at many American bars. One drink not for amateurs, make sure you have a designated driver before toasting the bar with a hearty bottoms
up.
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