Tokyo Iced Tea Cocktail Recipe: How to Make a Tokyo Iced Tea

The Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail recipe calls for a combination of strong colourless alcohols such as vodka, light rum, gin, and tequila. The Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail is described as having a fruity taste, due to the addition of Melon liqueur. Normally served in a pilsner or beer glass, the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail has a distinctly bright green colour that is so deceivingly opposite to its large alcohol content.

The Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail has many versions and did not originate in Tokyo or Japan, despite its name. The recipe may be compared to a Long Island Iced Tea cocktail because of its alcohol base, but a Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail is distinguished by a few ingredients. The other story behind its origin is that it was made specifically for the film Saturday Night Fever, where the drink was featured. It is recommended for anyone that can handle a good amount of alcohol content and enjoys sweet and fruity flavours.

What are the ingredients for a Tokyo Iced Tea?

Below are the ingredients for a Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail.

• 20ml Vodka: Vodka is made in Russia, a distilled beverage from fermented cereal grains.
• 20ml Light rum: Light rum is a rum that is processed and aged earlier than Dark rum.
• 20ml Gin: Gin is a grain-based distilled liquor that is flavoured with botanicals, the most common flavour is the juniper berry.
• 20ml Tequila: Tequila is made from the Agave plant, and originates in Guadalajara, Mexico.
• 20ml Melon liqueur: Melon liqueur is a Japanese liqueur that has a honeydew flavour with green colour, also known as “Midori”.
• 20ml Fresh lemon juice: Lemon juice is the liquid that is produced from a freshly squeezed lemon. It's sweet, acidic, and simply fresh.
• 10ml Sugar syrup: Sugar syrup is a liquid form of sugar that is commonly known as caramel, this syrup is combined with balanced water to prevent it from returning to its solid form.
• Fill with Sprite or Lemonade: Sprite is a carbonated soda with lemon flavour. Lemonade is a lemon fruit drink that comes from lemon zest and water.

1. 20ml Vodka

Vodka is one of the essential ingredients in the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail. It contributes to the overall strength of the drink, with 48 calories and 40% alcohol content present per 20ml serving. Smirnoff Vodka is the vodka recommended for this cocktail recipe.

2. 20ml Light Rum

Light rum is an essential ingredient for the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail. Light rum will add depth to the cocktail, but a lighter flavour than gold and dark rum. It contains approximately 40%alcohol by volume with 46 calories. Bacardi Light Rum is best recommended for this recipe.

3. 20ml Gin

One of the major ingredients in the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail is gin. It has a strong citrus smell and a pine-like flavour and packs a powerful punch into the drink. It contains around 40%alcohol by volume and 50 calories. The London Dry gin is the best recommended gin for this recipe.

4. 20ml Tequila

Tequila is another main liquor ingredient in the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail. The tequila jives into the citrus lime juice with 40 to 50% alcohol and 55 calories per 20ml. The best brand of tequila to use for the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail is Tequila Reposado.

5. 20ml Melon Liqueur

The Melon Liqueur is the ingredient that gives the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail its unique electric green colour and noticeably fruity flavour. The Melon Liqueur contains 20% alcohol and 67 calories. Nowadays, Melon Liqueur is also famously known as Midori.

6. 20ml Fresh Lemon Juice

One of the main ingredients in the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail drink is fresh lemon juice. The lemon's sweetness will contrast with the vodka, light rum, gin and tequila, and the acidity gives the alcohol more flavour depth. Fresh lemon juice with a volume of 20mL has 4 calories.

7. 10ml Sugar Syrup

In order to make the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail, sugar syrup is essential. This will provide sweetness to the cocktail, which will balance out the sharpness of the vodka, light rum, gin and tequila for a more refreshing drink. Sugar syrup typically has a calorie count of 62.

8. Sprite or Lemonade on Top

The Sprite or lemonade is another essential ingredient as it completes the right amount of volume for the Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail. Sprite is often better than lemonade, as it gives more characteristics to the drink with its sparkling feature. The number of calories present in Sprite is 67, while the Lemonade only contains 40, making it a bit healthier.

How to make Tokyo Iced Tea?

Preparing a Tokyo Iced Tea has never been easier thanks to this recipe, so don't miss it and make the most out of your cocktail!

•  Pour all the ingredients except the sprite into a shaker and shake.
•  Strain into a highball glass over cubed ice.
•  Garnish with a lemon wedge.

1. Pour all the ingredients except the sprite into a shaker and shake.

Combine all the vodka, light rum, gin, tequila, lemon juice, sugar syrup, melon liqueur into the shaker and shake. This allows all the ingredients to be mixed properly before pouring the mixture into the prepared glass.

2. Strain into a highball glass over cubed ice.

Strain the cocktail into a prepared highball glass. Straining is necessary to remove any solids or unwanted substances in the drink before serving. The highball glass should already contain ice cubes prior to pouring the mixed drink from the shaker.

3. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

To garnish, place the lemon on a cutting board and cut it in half using a knife. Then cut the other half in half again to form a lemon wedge. This will give the drink a more aesthetically pleasing appearance as well as additional flavour.

What nutritional benefit can you get from drinking a Tokyo Iced Tea?

There are no nutritional benefits from drinking a Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail. It has an alcohol content of 40-50% by volume, with an amount of 201 calories present per serving.

What are the different variations of Tokyo Iced Tea?

There are multiple variations of the classic Tokyo Iced Tea Cocktail drink, including Blueberry Tokyo Iced Tea, Appletini, Tokyo Iced Tea Martini, and Raspberry Tokyo Iced Tea. To variate a classic Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail drink, the bartender should change some ingredients. The procedure of making the variation of Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail is just the same as making the classic one. Instead of Sprite, a bartender can use Lemonade or Ginger Ale to make the drink smoother, stronger, and more complex in flavour. Some similar cocktails to the classic Tokyo Iced Tea cocktail are the Long Island Cocktail Mix, Absolut Melon Mojito, Alien secretion, and Ireland Iced Tea.