Amp Up Iced Coffee And Give It The Long Island Treatment

The original Long Island iced tea is a popular classic for two reasons: It's pretty strong, so you don't need more than one to get a party going. And, despite incorporating plenty of alcohol, it's delicious and really doesn't even taste like booze at all. The cocktail, which may have originated with a 1930s moonshiner or a 1970s Long Island bartender, utilizes all of a bar's clear spirits — vodka, gin, light rum, and tequila — but with a sweetness from triple sec, a punch from cola, and a bright tartness from lemon, the flavor focus really creates a tea taste.

There are already fun twists out there like Long Island iced tea with fruit juice or switch-ups on Long Island's orange liqueur, but what if you flipped the tea script all together and applied the deceptively boozy, tasty combo to iced coffee? 

A Long Island iced coffee is the perfect remix for coffee fans, and also plays on the java trend still going strong in cocktails — see: the espresso martini. Just like the espresso martini, the Long Island iced coffee is complex: roasty, bitter coffee; chocolate and vanilla notes; a warming presence of alcohol; a kick of caffeine; and an irresistibly silky consistency. It's an easy switch between Long Island iced tea and Long Island iced coffee, too. The recipes are fairly similar. You're essentially swapping out the triple sec and cola for Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur, Kahlua, and iced coffee. 

To make your Long Island iced coffee, gather almost all the same spirits you would for the iced tea version — most recipes leave out the gin, which has a lot of botanical notes that work well with a tea profile but might clash with coffee. 

You'll want a ½ ounce of vodka, a ½ ounce of rum, and a ½ ounce of tequila. Then, you'll add a splash of Bailey's Irish cream liqueur, a ½ ounce of Kahlua or another coffee liqueur, and 2 ounces of cold brew coffee or iced coffee. Shake all of this up in a cocktail shaker with ice, then pour it into a glass over fresh ice. 

The coffee is the most versatile part of this cocktail. You can make your own cold brew, or use one of the many store-bought, ready-made iced coffee, like La Colombe, Grady's, or Stok. Either way, you can add in different flavors here. Make a French vanilla, mocha, caramel, or hazelnut Long Island iced coffee, for example. Even if you keep it simple with non-flavored coffee, you can decide whether you want a darker or lighter roast profile for your cocktail. 

For other flavor possibilities, you could stay the Kahlua and keep triple sec — orange is actually a great complement for coffee with its bright sweetness. Or, you can add a ½ ounce of any of Monin's many flavored syrups, like lavender, toasted marshmallow, or tiramisu.