Texas Tea

Texas Tea is a boozy relation to the Long Island Iced Tea that includes blanco tequila, bourbon, gin, white rum, vodka, orange liqueur, lemon juice, simple syrup, and cola to top.

Though there isn’t a definitive recipe for Texas Tea, the prevailing ingredient makeup — a potent blend of various spirits, sour mix and cola — is nearly identical to a Long Island Iced Tea build but with the addition of bourbon or rye whiskey. Typically, neither cocktail contains actual iced tea. The “tea” moniker comes from the amber-hued color of the drink, a result of a splash of cola and/or whiskey, making it an iced tea look-alike in a rocks-filled highball glass. A wedge of lemon is commonly the only garnish, further making the drink look like the popular afternoon refresher. 

While the origins of Texas Tea are uncertain, what we know of the early iterations of the drink don’t necessarily tie it to the Lone Star state. The high-octane cocktail was likely born from a chain restaurant’s marketing campaign.

Texas Tea is said to have been created by TGI Fridays in 1980 as part of series of Long Island Iced Tea variations to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its parent company at the time, Carlson, a hospitality and travel company.

What makes Texas Tea work

On paper, Long Island Iced Tea, with its copious disparate spirits, sour mix and meager splash of cola, looks like chaos in a glass. Somehow, with accurate proportions and quality ingredients, the drink just works, sustaining popularity beyond frat parties and chain restaurants since the 1970s. Texas Tea pushes the already discordant collection of spirits even further by calling for a sixth boozy ingredient: bourbon.

Though the drink may not have an actual connection to Texas or the South, the addition of bourbon and the increase of cola in this variation results in rich caramel flavors, reminiscent of a spiked sweet tea — the signature beverage of the American South.

A generous amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice is key to help balance the sweetness of the simple syrup, triple sec, and cola, and will cut through the ample liquor.