The Extra Booze Geoffrey Zakarian Adds To Long Island Iced Teas

A Long Island iced tea is full of alcohol — a traditional recipe consists of vodka, rum, tequila and gin, as well as simple syrup, triple sec, lemon juice and cola. But when Geoffrey Zakarian — the chef and restaurateur who has appeared on "Chopped" and "The Next Iron Chef" — makes a Long Island iced tea, he adds even more booze to his recipe.

In an interview with Tasting Table, Zakarian said, "To be honest, I had a little extra rosé left over." This may seem like a bit of a bold choice — after all, Zakarian's rosé becomes the fifth type of alcohol in the drink — but the chef insists that it serves a purpose. He continued, "Long Island iced tea is actually quite good when made correctly. The wine adds a nice, fruity acidity and brings the sweetness down just enough."

If you're curious about Zakarian's method and want to try adding rosé — or another type of wine — to your Long Island iced tea, here's what you need to know.

Though this rosé recommendation is a serious business for Zakarian, he's happy to let folks in on it, first cluing Tasting Table into it back in February. And per his instructions — originally published on Food Network — you simply mix all of the traditional ingredients in a cocktail shaker and then a splash of rosé at the end. It's a subtle change that will add some fruitiness to the flavor — though we have our own recommendations for a fruity Long Island iced tea upgrade.

But you don't have to stick to just rosé if you're interested in adding wine to your Long Island iced tea. You can just as easily substitute the rosé for a red or white wine, but it may be best to stick to sweeter versions of either — such as a Moscato for white or a Port for red — to stick with the fruitiness that it'll add to the drink. If you do choose a drier wine, just keep in mind that it will make the already-strong drink even stiffer.

All in all, adding wine to your Long Island iced tea makes way for plenty of cocktail-making experimenting — so maybe you should try all three types of wine just to figure out which one you like the best for when you want more than a regular L.I.I.T.