Author: Anne Ewbank / Source: Atlas Obscura
Tennesse’s Long Island, which sits in the middle of the Holston River, has been many things. Originally a sacred Cherokee site, the island was known for bootlegging during Prohibition. But locals in nearby Kingsport are now claiming those tumultuous days produced something very special: the Long Island Iced Tea cocktail.
The assertion that the drink—which packs a punch by combining liquors including vodka, rum, and gin—originated in Tennessee is causing a tempest in a teapot. After all, New York’s Long Islanders proudly claim the drink as their own.According to Visit Kingsport, a bootlegger named Charlie “Old Man” Bishop got creative with his liquors one day on the island, mixing them together with maple syrup. In the 1940s, his son Ransom Bishop added citrus juice and cola, creating a drink that might be familiar to bar-goers today.
Kingsport’s new marketing campaign, which…
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