Discover the Ultimate Keto-Friendly Long Island Iced Tea: Low-Carb & Delicious!

If you're a fan of the classic Long Island Iced Tea but are following a ketogenic diet, you no longer have to miss out. This keto-friendly version offers all the flavor of the original without the high sugar and carb content. It's a deliciously refreshing drink that's perfect for summer parties or enjoying at home.

What is a Long Island Iced Tea?

A Long Island Iced Tea is a type of alcoholic drink typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola. Most versions of the drink are decorated with a lemon wedge (or lime, if you prefer). Despite its name, there is no actual iced tea in a Long Island Iced Tea. The amber hue comes from the cola.

Fun fact! The city of Kingsport, Tennessee, a short 20 minute drive from me, had a restaurant crowned the maker of the “Best Long Island Iced Tea” in 2019.

The Keto Twist: Adapting a Classic

The traditional Long Island Iced Tea is loaded with sugar from the triple sec and cola. To make it keto-friendly, we need to eliminate these sources of carbs. Here's how:

Sugar-Free Cola: Instead of regular cola, use a diet or sugar-free version. Zevia is often a keto/low-carb go to because it contains a small number of ingredients in comparison to other diet soda. Zevia was launched in 2007 as an alternative soft drink for those who want to avoid both added sugars and artificial sweeteners. There are multiple flavors of Zevia soda including grape, cola, and orange. You can easily use other colas for this recipe.
Sugar-Free Simple Syrup: Replace simple syrup with a keto-friendly version made with a sweetener like Swerve. Swerve sweetener and water to a pan, bring to a simmer and mix until the sweetener dissolves to make sugar free simple syrup.
Orange Extract: To make this one a Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail we substitute a dash of orange extract for the Triple sec.

Ingredients for a Keto Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail

Here's what you'll need to make this low-carb cocktail:

Vodka
Tequila
Light Rum: Rum is a delicious spirit. Having said that, there can be some major differences in different rums you may find at your local stores. Some of the best rums are still distilled in tropical areas such as the Caribbean and Latin America. Light rums are clear, have no distinct flavor, usually used in cocktails, and are aged at least a year.
Gin
Sugar-Free Simple Syrup
Lemon Juice: I also used Realemon lemon juice that comes in the bottle because it doesn’t have any carbs either. While fresh would be nice the juice of 1 lemon has roughly 3.3g net carbs so I figure why not save a few with the bottled.
Diet Cola (Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper)
Dash of orange extract
Lemon wedge, for garnish

Making Your Keto Long Island Iced Tea

It’s easy to make this low carb cocktail. Here's how to prepare a single serving:

Mix the Base: In a shaker bottle or small pitcher, add all of the ingredients but only 1 tablespoon of the simple syrup.
Adjust Sweetness: Taste to see if you want to adjust the sweetness.
Serve: Use two tall glasses filled with ice and pour the drink over top.
Garnish: Garnish with a slice of lemon. If you want more orange taste you can also add orange zest to the drink.

Alternatively:

Pour all of the ingredients (except for the diet coke) into a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake. Pour the mixture into a glass and top with 2 1/2 ounces of Diet coke.

Tips and Variations

Adjust the Sweetness: The amount of sugar-free simple syrup can be adjusted to your liking. Start with a smaller amount and add more if needed.
Make a Pitcher: Having friends over? Premix this low carb cocktail by increasing the volume and making it in a large pitcher without ice. Once your guests arrive add ice to individual highball glass and pour.
Garnish Creatively: Use an orange zest twist to this cocktail to add a hint of orange flavour.
"Grateful Dead" Variation: Some folks like a similar drink called a “Grateful Dead.” It has the same ingredients except it calls for Chambord rather than Triple Sec.
Tasty Low Carb humor: We actually once had a good laugh with friends one summer when we mixed up a batch and filled empty iced tea bottles. The ladies were in on the joke and each asked for an iced tea while the men had a cold beer. It was a lot of fun when the guys figured it out.
Presentation: We used mason jar glasses for our presentation, but most will call for a tall glass. Either way, top it with about 2 1/2 ounces of diet cola. The mason jars were a bit larger so we added more diet cola and this produced the darker color. However, the less you add, the greater the kick.

Keto and Alcohol: What to Keep in Mind

Drinking alcohol while on keto is definitely doable! Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Carb Content: Distilled liquor has zero carbohydrates per ounce. Distilled liquor with flavoring can run anywhere from 2g of carbs to 11g or more. The easiest thing to remember is no flavoring equals no carbs.
Moderation: Depending on how much you drink and how many carbs are in your alcoholic drinks it may know you out of ketosis. Drinking in moderation is key if you are going to drink alcohol. Too much alcohol will also affect your weightloss if that is your goal. Please drink responsibly.
Ketosis: If you did get knocked out of ketosis it can take up to around 5 days to get back into ketosis. It depends on what was your diet and exercise routine beforehand and afterwards. Your body will try to burn the alcohol first prior to burning carbs.
Wine: There are many low carb wines on the market and can be an option if drinking in moderation. Dry red and white wines are you best options.
Diabetes: Someone with diabetes can drink alchol in moderation but be careful about those sneaky sugars and carbs in many mixed drinks. Be aware of what types of mixes are in your cocktails and also be careful with those liquors as many of them are high in sugar. Remember to drink responsibly and monitor your blood sugars to see how alcohol affects you personally.

Serving Suggestions

There are plenty of delicious dishes to drink a keto-friendly long island iced team with. Common keto foods/ingredients are heavy cream, butter, avocado, and almond flour. Generally, those eating a keto diet aim for 20g (sometimes 30g) of carbohydrates or less daily. Keto-friendly, on the other hand, is a food or ingredient that is able to be consumed while on the keto diet.

tags: #long #island #iced #tea #keto