Applebee’s $1 Long Island Ice Tea was here for the month of June and it was a dream come true for thrifty drinkers like me. Although the deal is off the table this month, it’s likely Applebee’s will bring it back, as this was the second time they ran the monthly deal. And, of course, you can still order the drink for its regular price.
Anyways, the Long Island Iced Tea is a classic party drink, and for good reason. Yes, the cocktail is typically one of the more expensive drinks on a bar menu, but that’s most likely because the drink boasts three to four, and sometimes even five, types of liquor. Interestingly enough, there’s not one drop of tea
How It’s Made
The traditional recipes for Long Island Iced Tea include vodka, gin, white rum, tequila and sometimes triple sec, or all the clear liquor in the bar. These liquors are then mixed with a sweet and sour mix and a splash of soda, usually Coke.
Applebee’s Long Island Iced Tea special recipe is comprised of many flavors in a mix that honestly, do not always complement one another. That being said, the cocktail did deliver on the classic flavor punch of a Long Island Iced Tea. The $1 drink itself was 10 ounces served in an icy mug, made mostly with a drink mix.
The restaurant also had a special $5 Long Island Iced Tea that was 25 ounces. The drinks seemed to differ in taste only slightly, but worth the $4 upgrade for the extra ounces of alcohol.
The Taste
The basic recipe contains well (bottom shelf) gin, vodka, rum and triple sec. The drinks are then mixed with a sweet and sour mix that Applebee’s purchases pre-made. By talking to the bartender, I found out that the ready-to-go sweet and sour mix accounts for most of the drink. The drink is then finished with a splash of Pepsi instead of Coke.
While the drink did not contain any added silver tequila, the sweet and sour mix did have a small amount. However, the tequila flavor was very noticeable.
The rest of the taste was overpowered by the extremely strong sweet and sour mix. The mix was very tangy, and at the same time, it had an unusual sweet quality about it.
The sweet and sour mix was so potent though that there was not any noticeable taste of the five liquors in the drink, which made the Long Island Ice Tea particularly easy to drink.
The $5, 25-ounce Long Island had the similar flavor profile of being tangy and sweet, but the sweet and sour mix was not as overpowering presumably because of the higher amount of alcohol in the cocktail.
Deal or no deal?
Overall, the $1 Long Island Ice Teas were an incredible summer deal. The house recipe is decent and easy to drink, even when considering the potent sweet and sour mix. There is not a significant amount of ice in the glass to “cheat” customers out of their precious ounces of Long Island Iced Tea, either.
The promotion lasted throughout the month of June and hopefully history repeats itself and it returns again in December. Basically, with the low price of $1, it is easy to get a quick buzz without spending over $7 plus tax.
#SpoonTip: If you’re looking to stay in this summer, Try out these great summer drink recipes.