California Iced Tea Gives The Classic Long Island Version Some Competition

New York and California are homes to cities that have long had an unspoken rivalry — New York City and Los Angeles — but there's another competition brewing between these two states when it comes to cocktails. New York is home to the simple and strong Long Island iced tea, but the Golden State claps back with its own version — the California iced tea. 

Long Island iced tea is a super-boozy, classic cocktail made with gin, rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec, sweet and sour mix, and cola, then garnished with a lemon wedge and sometimes mint. All of the ingredients miraculously blend so nicely that the alcohol can't be detected, so it's definitely a cocktail that should be sipped with caution. While there are many different ways to upgrade your Long Island iced tea, the west coast version won't disappoint. California iced tea, which is made with gin, rum, vodka, triple sec, sour mix, amaretto, orange juice, and cranberry juice, offers a fruitier and more-sunny taste compared to the original cocktail. 

California isn't the only state that has its own version of the Long Island iced tea. If you travel way up north to Alaska, you'll find their version leaves out the cola and tequila to go with lemon-lime soda, cointreau, and blue Curacao. Out in the ocean, America's most tropical state offers the Hawaiian iced tea, which substitutes pineapple juice for cola. Texas always goes big, so of course they added bourbon to their variation, on top of all the other liquor the cocktail contains. And, fittingly, Georgia's version is as an answer to the question, "why doesn't Long Island iced tea actually have tea in it?," with their addition of southern sweet tea in place of cola. 

Adaptations have been named after cities and countries, as well, such as the Miami iced tea, which replaces the tequila with peach schnapps and the cola with cranberry juice and lemon-lime soda; the Tokyo tea, which isn't actually from Tokyo but gets its name from the addition of a Japanese melon liqueur called Midori; and the long Thailand iced tea, which again, isn't from Thailand but rather a Seattle bar, and is made with brandy, dark rum, whiskey, red Thai tea, sweetened condensed milk, honey, and club soda.