Long Beach Iced Tea

More than you'd think. Cola masks the spirits under caramel sweetness; cranberry's acid and tannin cut across them instead, so you taste the gin and the tequila poking through. The result reads less like iced tea and more like a stiff punch.

Because it is three drinks. Seventy-five milliliters of spirit goes into the glass, roughly two and a half standard measures once the triple sec is counted. The juice hides all of it, which is the drink's trick and also its main hazard.

For a single glass, no, and three will taste fine. The vodka and the white rum contribute the least, so drop those first. Losing the gin costs you most, since its botanicals are what stop the mix reading as generic fruit punch.

Most red bottles on the shelf are sweetened cocktail at around 25 percent juice, and that's what this build is balanced for. Unsweetened cranberry is bracingly sour and wants 10 ml of syrup to compensate. Read the label before you pour.

A classic Long Beach Iced Tea calls for 15 ml (0.5 oz) Vodka, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Gin, 15 ml (0.5 oz) White rum, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Tequila, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Triple sec / Cointreau, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 60 ml (2 oz) Cranberry juice. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Long Beach Iced Tea is roughly 19% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

A Long Beach Iced Tea is built directly in the glass over ice — no shaker required. Add the ingredients in order and give it a brief, gentle stir.