New York, Tennessee to compete for Long Island Iced Tea creation credit

FBN's Cheryl Casone talks to Peter's Clam Bar owner Butch Yamali about small businesses across America having trouble finding teenagers to fill summer jobs and the debate over whether the Long Island Iced Tea was created in Long Island, New York or in Tennessee.

New York resident and restaurant owner Butch Yamali has a debate to settle with Tennessee, and he plans to do so this summer: The volunteer state, he said, is trying to claim credit for creating the iconic Long Island Iced Tea.

“They’re dreaming,” Yamali, the owner of Peter’s Clam Bar, told FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone during an interview on Thursday. “There’s no way they made it.” The drink -- which mixes gin, tequila, rum, vodka and triple sec with soda -- reportedly originated in New York, with Robert “Rosebud” Butt claiming he invented the drink as an entry in a contest to create a new mixed drink that included triple sec in 1972.

The two states will duke it out this summer, Yamali said. He’ll be one of the New York representatives heading down to Tennessee.

“We’re going to show them who’s boss. We’re going to show them this is the real iced tea,” he said. “Theirs is an imposter.”