Why can't people make a good Long Island?

DasLeben · #1 09-10-2005, 12:32 AM

So the other night I went out to Outback and got a Long Island. It sucked. All it tasted like was Sweet & Sour and cheap Vodka. So, I decided to try my luck again tonight at Red Robin.

I ordered a "TNT," which is supposed to be their top shelf Long Island. When I got it, it tasted like an equal mix of Sweet & Sour and cheap Vodka. Wtf is up with these people putting well liquor in their supposedly top shelf drinks?

Why can't people make good Long Islands period?

jakethebake · #2 09-10-2005, 12:35 AM

It's a long island. You're mixing like 5 different liquors. Why would you order it top shelf anyway?

W. Deranged · #3 09-10-2005, 12:39 AM

There are many reasons that people don't know how to make good drinks. And it's not just Long Islands...

I ordered a sidecar at a reasonably swank/popular club in New York and got a weak glass of trash that tasted like mostly Sour Mix and some generic triple sec. (A good Sidecar should be brandy, fresh lime, and triple sec... preferably Cointreau or, for the ambitious, Grand Marnier...)

Basically, bartenders work for speed and not quality. Sour mix is used in total abundance... it's a vile chemical creation that somehow has become an acceptable substitute for fresh lime juice (which, in my opinion, is the nectar of the gods, and has no acceptable substitute)...

Chain restaurants are the worst. From what I know, most of them actually have pretty stingy limits on the amount of alcohol that goes into their drinks (a cost cutting measure). Most one-and-one mixed drinks have only 1oz of liquor. I doubt the Long Islands, especially the top shelf ones, have more than 2oz.

Don't even get me started on the "Perfect Margarita" I had at Applebee's a few days back... supposedly 1800 Reposado (I think), Grand Marnier, and Fresh Lime... Had way to much sugar... I doubt more than a couple of lime wedges... I couldn't even taste the tequila.

It's a damn shame.

End of rant.

battschr · #4 09-10-2005, 12:41 AM

Yup, hard to get a good drink these days.

ucfryan · #5 09-10-2005, 12:41 AM

Most resturaunts have a bottle of pre-mixed long island stuff, and then it's mixed with s&s, hence why it tastes so cheap.

Bukem_ · #6 09-10-2005, 12:52 AM

You can't expect a good mixed drink from a chain restaurant.

They teach the bartenders to skimp on the alky.

Just order a beer at chains.

BottlesOf · #7 09-10-2005, 01:13 AM

You mean a Long Island Iced Tea? You should not be ordering them.

DasLeben · #8 09-10-2005, 01:15 AM

[ QUOTE ]
You mean a Long Island Iced Tea? You should not be ordering them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? A good Long Island is killer.

jakethebake · #9 09-10-2005, 01:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You mean a Long Island Iced Tea? You should not be ordering them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? A good Long Island is killer.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. If you're a girl.

DasLeben · #10 09-10-2005, 01:18 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You mean a Long Island Iced Tea? You should not be ordering them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? A good Long Island is killer.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. If you're a girl.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it is kinda chicky, but I'm sick of beer right now. It definitely is one of my favorite mixed drinks (along with Red Headed Sluts, etc.) [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]