TGIF!  What the heck IS a Long Island Ice Tea? Supposedly, the Long Island Ice Tea originated in Hampton Bays, created by a bartender named “Rosebud” in 1970.  According to Urban Dictionary, a Long Island Ice Tea is: an alcoholic beverage that no one is sure WHAT you put in it.  It looks like iced tea, but it actually is not ice or tea, or any combination of the above.  It hits you harder than a ton of bricks.  “Last night we threw half my parents liquor cabinet together, and we got long island iced tea.”