LI Claims Victory In First Long Island Iced Tea Showdown

The bartenders at Hudson's on the Mile in Freeport claimed victory for all of Long Island when they won the first round of the Battle of the Long Island Iced Teas on Wednesday.

The Hudson's Long Island Iced Tea was chosen as the unanimous winner in a blind taste test by five judges, beating the drink prepared by the bartenders from Kingsport, Tennessee. Two of the tasters were chosen by Hudson's owner Butch Yamali, and the other three were chosen from the crowd by the Tennessee team.

The competition started back in May when Kingsport declared that the Long Island Iced Tea was invented in Tennessee, and named after a small island (called Long Island) in the Holston River. As part of its new tourism campaign, the city's tourism officials say the drink was created by Charlie "Old Man" Bishop in the 1920s. Bishop was a well-known illegal liquor distributor who lived on the Kingsport Long Island.

Yamalli -- who owns, among other properties, Hudson's on the Mile -- heard about Kingsport's claim, and took serious issue with it. He sent a letter to Kingsport declaring that Robert "Rosebud" Butt was the actual inventor of the drink, here on Long Island in 1972.

So the two regions are holding a cocktail battle to decide, once and for all, who makes the better Long Island.

Hudson's bartenders Freddy Cardenas and Elias Gomez mixed up the classic Long Island Iced Tea, which consists of vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec and cola. Shane Winegar and Randy Ashens, the Tennessee duo, mixed their version of the drink, which is rum, vodka, whiskey, gin, tequila, maple syrup, lime, lemon and cola.

"We came, we poured, we won," said Cardenas, who has been pouring drinks at Hudson's for eight years. "Seriously, this has been so much fun. All of these guys are awesome and I've really enjoyed meeting everyone from Kingsport. This even has been nothing but great for both of our cities and I look forward to going to Kingsport."

The competition will continue on July 13, when the bartending team from Hudson's will travel to Kingsport to mix their drinks for a Tennessee crowd.

"This has been a lot of fun and a great experience," said Ashens. "The people up here have been great and you have to give it to their bartenders -- they know what their people like. But I can tell you one thing: it'll be a different story when we get to Kingsport for round two in July."

The loser after both competitions will have to raise the winner's state flag and clean their bar. The winner gets to call their drink "The Best Long Island Iced Tea," and of course gets bragging rights.

Photos courtesy Visit Kingsport