November 2, 2025
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Deep Something

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General Culture 

Who Invented Long Island Iced Tea

B. John 1129 Views , , ,
This entry is part 8 of 40 in the series Deep Questions

The strip of land near New York City has long been a launchpad for icons of American culture, including 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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B. John

B. John Masters writes about democracy, moral responsibility, and everyday Stoicism at deep.mastersfamily.org. A lifelong United Methodist committed to social justice, he explores how faith, ethics, and civic life intersect—and how ordinary people can live out justice, mercy, and truth in public life. A records and information management expert, Masters has lived in the Piedmont,NC, Dayton, OH, Greensboro, NC and Tampa, FL, and is a proud Appalachian State Alum.