Invention of the Long Island Iced Tea

You’ll find the Long Island Iced Tea has two rival birthplaces: Long Island, Tennessee, and Long Island, New York. Tennessee lore credits bootlegger Charlie “Old Man” Bishop in the 1920s, with Ransom Bishop later adding cola and citrus. New York’s version says bartender Robert “Rosebud” Butt created the modern drink in a 1972 Oak Beach Inn contest built around triple sec. Because recipes evolved and records are thin, the true origin remains disputed—and there’s more to uncover.

Key Takeaways

• The Long Island Iced Tea has two main origin stories: Kingsport, Tennessee, and Long Island, New York, with neither claim conclusively proven.
• A Tennessee legend credits bootlegger Charles “Old Man” Bishop in the 1920s, with later refinements by Ransom Bishop adding cola and citrus.
• The best-known modern version is often credited to bartender Robert “Rosebud” Butt at a 1972 Oak Beach Inn contest on Long Island.
• Butt’s winning recipe used vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, sour mix, and cola to mimic iced tea’s color.
• Similar recipes appeared before 1972, helping fuel debate over whether Butt invented the drink or simply popularized it.

What Is the Real Long Island Iced Tea Origin?

While the Long Island Iced Tea is usually linked to Long Island, New York, its origin is still disputed. You’ll find two strong claims, and the real answer may depend on how you define the drink. In Kingsport, Tennessee, supporters point to a Prohibition-era recipe created by Charles Bishop on Long Island in the Holston River. The Tennessee story says the drink was meant as a Prohibition disguise so it looked like iced tea while hiding its alcohol content. The original Kingsport recipe also reportedly included maple syrup along with five liquors.

You can also trace the modern bar version to Robert Butt in 1970s New York, where a cocktail contest produced the familiar mix built around triple sec. When you compare the formulas, you see clear regional variations rather than one simple invention story. Tennessee’s version used whiskey and maple syrup, while New York’s used triple sec instead. Because both places still defend authenticity, you shouldn’t reduce the debate to cultural appropriation alone or erase either claim today.

What Are the Two Origin Stories?

Although the Long Island Iced Tea sounds like it should have one clear birthplace, you’ll usually run into two competing origin stories. One points you toward Long Island, Tennessee, where a Prohibition legend says an early version appeared decades before the drink became famous.

The other takes you to Long Island, New York, where bartender Robert “Rosebud” Butt said he created it in the 1970s. Exact details of Butt’s story remain speculative today.

If you compare them, you’ll notice why the debate never really ends. The Tennessee claim centers on a rougher, stronger mix that changed over time. Ransom Bishop later modified that earlier version by adding cola, lemon, and lime in a later tweak.

The New York claim ties the cocktail to a Bar competition at the Oak Beach Inn in 1972, with triple sec and a more recognizable modern formula. Since both places are named Long Island, you can see how the mystery keeps getting stirred.

What Is the Tennessee Prohibition Story?

If you trace the Tennessee version of the Long Island Iced Tea story, you end up in a state with a deep and unusually early history of alcohol restrictions. You can start in 1784, when Fort Nashboro banned liquor production during a grain shortage, though founder James Robertson also pushed temperance. This marked Nashville’s first prohibition.

As you follow Tennessee Prohibition forward, you see the Temperance Movement gain force in the 1820s. Nashville and Kingsport formed early societies in 1829, and lawmakers kept tightening rules. The Four-Mile Law restricted sales near churches in 1824, later expanding to schools. Protestant churches and civic reformers helped drive the movement through moral pressure.

Tennessee then passed the nation’s first statewide prohibition law in 1838, penalizing tavern and store sales. By 1909, the state went fully dry, backed national Prohibition, and stayed dry until 1939, well after repeal.

Who Was Charlie “Old Man” Bishop?

In Tennessee’s version of the drink’s origin story, Charlie “Old Man” Bishop stands at the center. You can trace him from Scott County, Virginia, where Charles Scott Bishop was born in 1874, to Long Island of the Holston in Tennessee. Locals knew Old Man as sharp, resourceful, and impossible to underestimate. During Prohibition, his Bootlegger Ingenuity made him a standout figure in the community. Some local accounts say he created the drink in the 1920s on Long Island, Tennessee. The original recipe is remembered locally as the Original Long Island Iced Tea, made with five liquors and maple syrup.

• He built a reputation as an intelligent problem-solver.
• He married Maggie Jones and raised a family.
• He later became Tennessee’s credited cocktail pioneer.

You see why his name endured: Bishop wasn’t just a bootlegger; he was a local original. Multiple sources in Tennessee credit him with creating the Long Island Iced Tea in 1920, and his family helped preserve that claim for later generations.

What Was in the Original Long Island Iced Tea?

What, then, went into the original Long Island Iced Tea that people later linked to Bishop and other origin stories? You’d start with five spirits in equal parts: vodka, gin, white rum, tequila, and triple sec or Cointreau.

Early versions may have used 1 ounce of each, which pushed cocktail strength surprisingly high, though later standards cut those measures down. The IBA spec later standardized a 15 ml each measure for the five base spirits.

You’d then add fresh lemon juice and lime, not bottled shortcuts, for the drink’s sharp citrus edge.

Some historical versions sweetened it with maple syrup instead of the simple syrup many people expect today.

After building everything directly over ice, you’d finish with a cola topping for color and fizz, then stir gently. Cola also gives the drink its brown color despite the absence of brown spirits.

Exact original quantities remain uncertain, but those core ingredients defined the earliest recognizable recipe overall.

How Did Ransom Bishop Change the Recipe?

Ransom Bishop reshaped his father Charles Bishop’s 1920s drink in the 1940s by adding the touches that made it more recognizable: a 4-ounce cola topper plus a squeeze of half a lemon and half a lime. This 1940s variation helped set the Kingsport version apart from the later New York Long Island Iced Tea created in the 1970s. The drink’s roots trace back to Prohibition era Kingsport, Tennessee, where Charles “Old Man” Bishop first created it. You can see how his post-Prohibition update kept the family recipe alive while changing its personality. The cola influence softened the strong liquor mix and maple syrup, while the citrus balance sharpened every sip. You still had 1 ounce of whiskey and half-ounce pours of tequila, gin, and rum, but the drink tasted more harmonious.

• You'd notice sweeter aroma from the cola topping.
• You'd taste brighter acidity from lemon and lime.
• You'd get a smoother finish without losing potency.

That tweak made Ransom’s version distinct, local, and easier for you to recognize today.

Who Created the Modern Long Island Iced Tea?

Trace the modern Long Island Iced Tea to Robert “Rosebud” Butt, who said he created it in the 1970s at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, New York, during a cocktail contest that required triple sec. You can see why many people credit him: his version used vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, sour mix, and Coca-Cola, and it quickly became the Oak Beach Inn’s house drink. Earlier printed recipes in 1960s cookbooks show that similar versions existed before Butt’s claim. The International Bartenders Association now recognizes the triple sec-based recipe as a contemporary classic.

As you follow cocktail culture, you’ll notice Butt’s recipe spread across Long Island bars by the mid-1970s and became the standard modern template. Even so, mixology debates continue because earlier drinks resembled it, including Charles Bishop’s Prohibition-era version in Tennessee and cookbook appearances from the 1960s. Still, if you’re asking who created the modern Long Island Iced Tea, Butt remains the name most drinkers recognize today.

What Happened at the 1972 Cocktail Contest?

At the Oak Beach Inn—often identified as OBI East in Hampton Bays—the 1972 cocktail contest asked bartenders to invent a new drink built around triple sec, reportedly because the bar had too much of it on hand. You can picture the nightclub buzzing as about 20 staff bartenders competed, showing off bartender creativity at one of Long Island's busiest nightlife spots. The drink was later named for its tea-like taste, even though it contains no actual tea. The standard recipe used equal parts rum, vodka, gin, tequila, and triple sec, then added sour mix and cola over ice.

• You get a clear sense of the contest's simple rule: use triple sec.
• You see Robert “Rosebud” Butt step forward as the reported winner.
• You watch the drink become the house favorite almost immediately.

According to Butt, his Long Island Iced Tea won on the spot. That victory shaped the contest legacy, because the drink soon spread across Long Island bars and later reached worldwide fame by the 1980s.

How Did the Long Island Iced Tea Recipe Change?

Although the Long Island Iced Tea is now known as a boozy party drink, its recipe didn't start as the polished version you see today.

During Prohibition, you'd have seen a stronger, rougher mix built to hide alcohol beneath an innocent tea-like look. The carbonated element that many modern versions include traces its origins to carbonated mineral water, which was first developed as a commercial product by J.J. Schweppe in 1783.

Later, Ransom Bishop helped refine that inherited formula, shifting it from pure concealment toward something more drinkable. In more recent years, bartenders have revisited the drink with modern balance, using fresh lemon juice, better spirits, and a more restrained build to correct complaints about excess strength and sweetness. Over time, the drink also proved highly adaptable, with the base recipe inspiring tropical, creamy, and even shot-sized variations.

Why Is the Origin Still Debated?

Because two regions tell convincing but conflicting stories, the Long Island Iced Tea's origin remains disputed. You hear Tennessee's Prohibition-era tale about Charlie Bishop on Kingsport's Long Island, then New York's 1970s account crediting Robert Butt at Oak Beach Inn. Each sounds plausible, and neither has undisputed documentation. ABC News has highlighted both claims by reporting the Tennessee and New York versions side by side. The confusion deepens because the classic drink contains no actual tea despite its name.

• Tennessee leans on cultural memory and oral tradition, plus family lore, to place the drink in the 1920s.
• New York points to Butt's triple sec contest recipe, which matches the modern classic you probably recognize today.
• Recipe changes blur everything: Tennessee used whiskey and maple syrup, while New York dropped whiskey and added triple sec.

You can see why the feud lasts. Both drinks mimicked iced tea, both regions market the claim aggressively, and naming, evolution, and missing records keep certainty out of reach. Similarly, pop culture history is filled with disputed origins, much like debates over who deserves credit for iconic works, such as the Superman film franchise and its many contributors across decades.