Best of Kent: alcoholic beverages

Tie for first place:

Ray’s Place Long Island 

Ray’s long island iced tea is a classic drink and the perfect alcoholic beverage to get your night started. Despite the name, there is no iced tea in the drink. Instead it’s made of rum, gin, triple sec, a sour mix and topped off with a coke. 

“It’s going to be generally like a classic iced tea taste and you might get a little bit of a citrus from the triple sec and maybe a little bit of a bite from the gin,” Ray’s bartender, A.J. Granger said. 

The drink comes in a 16 ounce mug and is priced at $4.50. Granger said Ray’s is generally the first place people stop to begin their birthday bar crawl and that the long island iced tea pairs perfectly with their birthday shot.

Barrio margaritas

Spend an evening out in downtown Kent and head to Barrio’s during their happy hour from 2-7 p.m. and enjoy a 50 percent off customizable margarita. 

Choose from a skinny skeleton made with olmeca altos tequila plata, triple sec, fresh lime juice and soda, or get the refreshing margarita perfecto. 

“It’s just so refreshing and it’s just really pulls together everything. It’s a perfect drink that you can have that anytime of the day,” said bartender and marketing intern Julia Pieri. 

Third place: The Hulk, Loft Tavern 

If there is one way Brad Patterson, owner of Loft Tavern, could describe the Hulk drink, it’s not too strong and it’s not too sweet. The drink has been around for 15 to 18 years now and continues to be a drink that bar goers enjoy. 

The drink comes in a 12 ounce mug or a one ounce shot glass. It’s normally $5, but because of St. Patrick’s Day the Hulk is going down to four.

Patterson said when someone orders the Hulk, they normally gets six shot glasses and pass them around to their friends. 

“When people see them leaving the window and heading toward a table and a guy’s got four or two in each hand or something like that. It’s just like, ‘Hey, what are those?’ You know to try these,” Patterson said. “It’s unique and they try them and they like them.”

Contact Gershon Harrell at [email protected].