  This time out we decided go to Rosebank and where better to start than Cranks. The food is really good and well the decor is frankly quite mad. So we arrive sit down and ask for a long island ice tea. We find out that there are two sizes. DAMN!! Two sizes what the hell. So we order both sizes for good measure. On arrival the drinks are served in these jars which is quite cool but not amazing. The large is actually not that large and the small is way too small. I tasted my drink and damn it was like getting kicked in the head by a bottle of gin. Unfortunately for us we found that the drinks across the table were not consistent everyone had a different long island ice tea. Second round was much the same. The biggest problem we had was the ludicrous price but Rob will cover that. Presentation: 6/10 Taste: 3/10 Service: 5/10 Overall: 4/10 Flash to Rob, who is at this point selling himself on a street corner to pay for the drinks.  Presentation: More jars, lots of ice and a slice of lem... err Cucumber ? Thailand just got interesting! Unfortunately most of the ice teas were heavily stirred and so lacked that "look" 2 Sizes were available, though with the large variety of jars served one might more accurately say several sizes are available, let the long island lottery begin. (6/10) Taste: Continuing with the long island lottery, taste was no exception. Drinks ranged from, "I think this is Lipton's ?" to "Oh my God, impending blackout!" If one wanted to find some sort of consistency, I would say that the median drink tasted much like Gin&Cola... So not good. (3/10) Service: Could use some improvements, there were far often to many times where only half the table had anything in front of them. Other than that, food was decent and the they did try to keep us all happy. (5/10) Overall, I'm going to give the place a (4/10) M-Score ranged from 1 - 1.5 and a long island will cost you.... wait for it R69.95 for a large, and R49.95 if you order the small. P.S, No money for long islands next week. Please Help!
  Ok well on this day we decided to hit Sandton Square the first place we arrived at was Della Salute with its sparkling lights promising a rather enjoyable atmosphere. So we took a seat and our first round of drinks. They arrived and much to our disappointment the drinks were by no means long drinks was more like a dwarf long drink. Some of the drinks were kind of mixed already which is not ideal. On first taste it wasn't bad although they do use sour mix in their long island ice teas. We didn't have to wait at all for our second round our waitress was great, although the second round did not impress at all. Due to a number of other incidences all in all we left the place with a rather unpleasant taste in our mouths which was both the shoddy long island ice teas and managements attitude. Presentation: 3/10 Taste: 5/10 Service: 3(7)/10 (The value in brackets was our waitress the actual value is based on management) Overall: 3/10 What does Rob have to say, Rob ?  Presentation: As Dave said the place was buzzing, bright lights and hum of chatter. So we parked our selves off at a booth and ordered our first round. The drinks come served in a dainty glass, much like the ones we experienced at Braza, our initial round was also garnish free and had all been stirred to some degree. Simple straws, no flair... Disappointing. Second round slightly improved in that a lemon wedge had appeared, drinks were also noticeably less stirred. More ice! (3/10) Taste: Well, mine tasted like sour-mix and cola. Dave's was a little bit more on the lemon/lime side and the third drink we had for our friend Glenn, tasted rather good with just a hint of sourness. Unfortunately round 2 was much the same in its inconsistency, To much like tequila with a slice of lemon and a splash (and by splash, I mean way to much) of cola. More Ice! (4/10) Service: Our waitress was fantastic, she was diligent and we hardly had to wait 2 min's before we were being offered second round. I had half a mind to tell her to move to Cofi. Management on the other hand left something to be desired, and I'm thinking it was competence. The evening wore on, and we found ourselves being asked to stop taking pictures, and as I say this several flashes from the surrounding tables light the scene. No explanation, and no time to ask for one as he shoots of back to his perch. So rather annoyed at this point, we continuing munching away... content to question him when it comes to paying the bill. So, we ask said manager... Who complained, why can't we take photo's... we reviewing your ice tea, not to mention making memories... much the same as every other person here flashing away (Again the scene lights up) Manager points to a table in the corner, those gentlemen complained. Fair enough we said, did you happen to inform them off what we were doing, and that we would be careful not to bother them with the flash, did you bother to come ask us if we could be careful ? Hang on! looking back through my camera reel... that table has been empty most of the night. Manager... stuck on what to do... randomly repeats his statement about the table, not worth it me thinks, so just a quick word with manager on the finer points of diplomacy and customer care, our night at Della Salute ends. More Ice! (3/10) Overall, I feel the place deserves a (3/10) and a long island will cost you R42.95
  This weeks adventure takes us to Mamma's Shabeen a tiny place with Decor much like what you would expect from a place with that name. Corrugated iron and cheesy walls very cool indeed. So yeah now to the reason that we were there. We arrived the waiters were all very eager to help us out. Although it did take a number of attempts to actually place the order. Finally when the drinks arrived they came in jars which I personally think was a great idea. Major thing lacking was no garnishing was added for flair. In general the taste was Ok i would put it close to a News Cafe. All in all not bad and its nice and different place to go. Presentation: 7/10 Taste: 5/10 Service: 4/10 Overall: 6/10 Rob says:  Presentation: As I was expecting, the drinks came in rather interesting glassware... Jam jars to be precise and whilst they look a tad on the small side, they are deceptively big drinks. No lemon or any kind of garnish, left the drink feeling a little incomplete. (6/10) Taste: A little disappointing, another venue that uses sour mix and far to much of it. Strong, but not overpowering in terms of alcohol content. Very Mediocre. (5/10) Service:Well, when we arrived we had a stream of waiters asking us about drinks and literally were fighting them off, in hindsight I think it was because we had a camera with us, and unknown to us at the time, several celebrities were in the corner table having a bit of a party. Service unfortunately went out the window at this point, and we struggled to get our second drinks. (4/10) Overall, I'm giving the place a down the middle (5/10) No M-Score again, our measuring system was in use elsewhere. A long island ice tea will cost you R 27
  This weekend we decided to go to Cofi at Cedar Square. I honestly had no idea what to expect I knew it was a generally good place to go. So we arrived (had booked a table this time) sat down and ordered our first long islands. Round 1 arrived in nice glasses except they had Peroni written all over them :S The generally look was good. I took a sip and well it tasted just like tea. I mean this was just like a nice refreshing ice tea. There was definitely alcohol but the mix was great. We had to wait a bit for us to be asked for our second but that wasn't a problem because it tasted exactly the same. Great drink fair service I definitely recommend Cofi. Presentation: 4/10 Taste: 8/10 Service: 6/10 Overall: 8/10 (Drinks were excellent) Robs say:  Presentation: So the first round arrived, and was dressed to standard. Cofi uses a single straw, and for our initial round Peroni Glasses (I'm guessing the dish-washer was still running) Drink was also garnished with a small chunk of lemon. The second round was similar looking, but a few of the drinks came in slightly different glasses. I think some work could go into improving the looks, after all, we all had to come smart casual (5/10) Taste: Ice Tea, there is no better way to describe the taste. A Cofi long island is exactly why these drinks are banned at some places, if one didn't take note of the slight buzz, you would not even know you were consuming alchohol. Our second round tasted identical, like a nice refreshing ice tea. (9/10) Service: A little slack, It took a long time before we were offered our second round of drinks. But once all our guests had arrived, things picked up and we were well looked after, On a side note the food was awesome. (4/10) No M-Score tonight, but I'm going to give the place an Overall (7/10) A long island at Cofi, will cost you R37.00
While we are running around trying all these great long island ice teas i think we will give you more information about it. So here we begin: The International Bartenders Association, founded on February 24, 1951 in the Saloon of the Grand Hotel in Torquay, UK, is an international organization established to represent reputedly the best bartenders in the world. An annual event, both World Cocktail Competition (WCC) and World Flairtending Competition (WFC) were presented and organized by the IBA. The IBA also sanctions a list of official cocktails. And with that here is their Long Island Ice Tea:  1.5 cl (three parts) Vodka 1.5 cl (three parts) Tequila 1.5 cl (three parts) White Rum 1.5 cl (three parts) Triple Sec 1.5 cl (three parts) Gin 2.5 cl (five parts) Lemon juice 3.0 cl (six parts) Gomme Syrup Dash of Cola
 This weekends long island drinking was a little more frustrating than we had planned. The place we had originally planned to go to had shut down so we ended up going to Kyoto.  Firstly presentation was fair, the usual nothing too amazing. Personally i thought that there a bit too much ice and made it difficult to stir without messing. I must say that i have decidedly gained a distaste for the sour mix variety of the long island ice tea. I feel that it has too much bite and does not taste enough like tea. We didn't have to wait long for our second round. I was quite impressed that the owner was quiet accommodating when we wanted to have them with lime instead of sour mix. I definitely prefer it with lime instead of sour mix. Presentation: 5/10 Taste: 4/10 Service: 6/10 Overall rating: 4/10 nothing impressive and the drinks weren't that great. Robs take on things:  Presentation: A stock standard looking long island, plenty of ice... really wicked looking dark straws and a lemon chunk (Where oh where are the slices) (5/10) Taste: American style, sour mix included. It tasted better than News cafes methinks, the difference I would put down to far less cola being used and a smaller bit of lemon added to the mix. Second round tasted identical, with the third being the best after we convinced the manager to use lime instead of sour mix. (5/10) Service: We were well looked after, plenty of help from all the staff, quick refills and nummy food. Place had a good vibe, and its a pity that the centre itself seems to be suffering. (6/10) Overall I'm going to give the place a down the middle (5/10) and an M-Score of 0.9 A long island will cost you R36.00
 Let me start off by explaining the whole way we run franchises, its quite simple they only get one chance. Makes our lives simple else we would have to be going to a hell of a lot more places, as if the world isn't big enough. So without further adieu: Dave's Cogitation  News Cafe is generally a good haunt to hangout with fair music and a generally good vibe etc. But tonight we were on a mission the Long Island Ice Tea Mission. Round 1 Ding!!! The drinks arrive first impressions are that it looks good the usual separation at the bottom of the glass and a lemon in with two straws. The biggest issue is that this drink tasted nothing like ice tea, it was more like a lemon cola more than anything else. Round 2 Ding!! We didn't have to wait long before our waitress offered us another and wow its was like dejavu all over again. It was pretty much as if they cloned the drink so my overall opinion is the drinks aren't bad but are consistently mediocre. Presentation: 6/10 Taste: 4/10 Service: 7/10 Overall: 5/10 What Rob has to say:  Presentation: Completely to standard, clear separation and unstirred, 2 straws and a large chunk of lemon ( I think I'd have preferred a slice) Plenty of ice, and coasters for the glasses. (5/10) Taste: Somewhat subjective here, the drinks most definitely had a strong lemon-cola flavour. News Cafe also makes there long island ice teas according to American standards and use sour mix, outside of the states we tend to just use lime and cola. Still, it is tasty and has a bit of a kick. (4/10) Service: Our waitress was very patient with us, and happily answered all our questions about the contents of the long islands. Our second round was also offered to us a few minutes after finishing our first, and was brought speedily. The place was a bit dead for a Saturday, but it may have been a tad early. (6/10) Overall, I'm going to give the place a (4/10) News Cafe charges R38.85 for a long island. Also no M-Score this week, unfortunately our measuring instrument was unavailable .
So, after our first two reviews I found the out of 5 system we used was a little two restrictive. We are just changing it ever so slightly and maybe coming up with a funky graphical way of displaying it and then I shall post our next review (Read Tomorrow)
 Our mission to find the best long island ice tea continues and we decided to stay with Cedar square. This time we went to Central Grill, its a nice restaurant and cocktail bar upstairs.
Dave's Boggle.
So yes we were pleasantly surprised. The first round was in a nice big glass, two straws and a cherry. The presentation was great but here is the biggest thing the first round you could only taste the alcohol. There was so much alcohol in this bad ass drink i definitely felt the effects even half way through. The service was excellent by the time we had about and inch left the waiter offered us another round. This second round was much better, tasted a lot more like ice tea than alcohol but still had a bit of a kick, they also upped the presentation by adding lemons and different color straws on top of the cherries.
Presentation: 3/5
Taste: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Overall I give the place a 3/5 good service, good long island ice teas, fair presentation. I think one of the biggest draw backs was the ambiance of the place.
Robs Humble Opinion.
 Presentation: The Long islands were brought to us in big glasses, with 2 large bright yellow straws, Lots of ice and two deep red cherries garnished the drink. Drinks were not overly stirred, and one could see the separation of cola from the alcohol. The second round of drinks were an improvement over the first, definite separation was visible and a lemon was
added to complete the long island feel. Also, two different colours of straw were used (Its the little things) (3/5)
Taste: Wow, these things are monsters... and I can only imagine the bartenders are very liberal with their pouring, or lack any kind of measurement device. There was most definitely a lot of alcohol in these babies and they let you know it... After the first sip, I knew, a few of these and I would be needing photographs and witness statements, just to piece together the night. (4/5)
Service: I was really impressed with the service, waiters were friendly and tried their best to look after us. I had just finished my first long island and was comfortably reclining in my booth, when our waiter had returned and was propositioning us with our second round. Drinks were brought promptly and I really did feel taken care off. (4/5)
I am going to give the place a 4/5, whilst the place could have been a bit more lively, we were sitting in the restaurant section and the venue is big.
Cost of the long island from Central Grill: R32.00
I am also most pleased to give the place an M-Score rating of 0.5 (Lower is better)
 Welcome to the first of many entries detailing our quest to find the best long island ice tea in the world. Ok yes that is mildly ambitious but you have to start somewhere so Rob and I (Dave) are going to start local and work our way around the place. So yes let the games begin: Dave's boggle:  Presentation: So, initially I was disappointed, it was served in a normal glass nothing special no flare at all. All rounds post had a nice touch of the cola being separated from the alcohol by the lemon which was I thought was a nice touch. (2/5) Flavour: Through out the evening the flavour didn't score high. First one was watered down and the rest tasted way too much like peach schnapps. All in all ok(1/5) Service: First off Braza is more of a restaurant their food is ok but the service is slow. We had to ask for our second drinks and third instead of being requested. (N/A) Overall I would not recommend their long island ice teas, but the food was good. Final verdict: (1/5) Rob's Humble Opinion.  Presentation: Likewise, I was disappointed with the initial round of drinks. Whilst mine was certainly the strongest, It was still indeed watered down. The drinks were also brought to us pre-stirred, and so lacked that long islands initial look. I was also mildly disappointed in the straws that accompanied the drink, It was just a standard straw... nothing exciting. The second round of drinks were far better, as Dave has said, they had an interesting way of separating the cola from the rest of the mix by use of a lemon as a barrier, this made the drink far more fun. (3/5) ((I really liked the lemon trick.)) Flavour: I wasn't impressed, All 3 rounds had a remarkably different taste, with one or more of the alcoholic components being more present than another. Still, they were tasty. (1/5) Service: Braza has a nice atmosphere, and the staff were friendly. Unfortunately, we did have to ask for our second and third drinks... as apposed to being offered. (2/5) Great Place for a meal, but not the best long islands around. Final Verdict: (1/5) Cost of a long island from Braza: R36.00 And of course, our review would not be complete without the soon to be infamous M-Score, the inner workings of which we shall explain in time :) Braza's ice tea, scored a 3
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This time out we decided go to Rosebank and where better to start than Cranks. The food is really good and well the decor is frankly quite mad. So we arrive sit down and ask for a long island ice tea. We find out that there are two sizes. DAMN!! Two sizes what the hell. So we order both sizes for good measure. On arrival the drinks are served in these jars which is quite cool but not amazing. The large is actually not that large and the small is way too small. I tasted my drink and damn it was like getting kicked in the head by a bottle of gin. Unfortunately for us we found that the drinks across the table were not consistent everyone had a different long island ice tea. Second round was much the same. The biggest problem we had was the ludicrous price but Rob will cover that.
Presentation: More jars, lots of ice and a slice of lem... err Cucumber ? Thailand just got interesting! Unfortunately most of the ice teas were heavily stirred and so lacked that "look"
