5 Pennsylvania RTDs That Deserve More Attention

If you nearby, you’ve probably noticed that Pennsylvania canned cocktails have gotten a little difficult to ignore. And there’s one brand in particular that’s almost impossible to miss.

Surfside.

The Philadelphia-based brand has gone from a regional favorite to a national RTD powerhouse. In 2025, Surfside reportedly sold 11.1 million cases and ranked as the top-selling spirits brand in the country by volume. That’s not just a successful canned cocktail. That’s a massive beverage brand.

Stateside and Surfside have also become staples around here. You’ll see them at beaches, backyard parties, tailgates, cookouts and pretty much anywhere else people want a cocktail without bringing a full bar with them. But here’s the thing.

Pennsylvania makes a lot of other really good canned cocktails.

Some are made right here in the state. Some have been around longer than you might realize. Others are newer brands that haven’t reached the same level of recognition yet.

So if you’ve worked your way through every Surfside flavor—or you just want to try something different—here are five Pennsylvania RTDs we think deserve more attention.

Why Is Surfside So Popular?

Before we start throwing alternatives at you, it’s worth giving Surfside some credit.

The formula is pretty obvious once you look at it. Vodka, iced tea or lemonade, recognizable flavors, relatively low ABV, and a format that requires absolutely no preparation. The brand on the can is almost more important than the liquid in the same way that Nike came to fame.

It solved a problem.

You don’t need to mix anything. You don’t need to measure anything. You don’t need to bring a bottle of vodka, a mixer and a bag of lemons to the beach, party, etc.

Open the can and you’re done. You now belong to the Surfside Club.

That convenience helped turn RTDs into one of the biggest stories in the beverage-alcohol industry. Surfside simply became one of the brands that executed the idea extremely well.

Still, being the biggest doesn’t mean being the only option.

Here are five Pennsylvania canned cocktails that deserve a spot in the conversation.

1. Top Dog Cocktails

If you want something that feels more like an actual cocktail than a flavored alcoholic drink, Top Dog is where I’d start.

Top Dog makes spirit-based canned cocktails using premium spirits and real ingredients. Its cocktails are produced in Lansdale and Kennett Square, and the lineup includes drinks such as Greyhound (my personal favorite), Whiskey Lemonade, Blood Orange Margarita and Wildberry Margarita. There’s another important difference between Top Dog and the typical easy-drinking canned cocktail.

These are 12.5% ABV.

Top Dog describes each can as two drinks, which makes it a very different proposition from a lower-ABV iced tea. That makes Top Dog a good option when you actually want the cocktail part of the RTD.

The Greyhound, for example, combines vodka and grapefruit with rosemary and elderflower. The Whiskey Lemonade brings together whiskey, lemon and orange liqueur. The margaritas lean into real tequila and citrus. In other words, this isn’t trying to be another Surfside.

It’s trying to put a cocktail in a can. Drink resposibly, throw it in a glass with ice, and have a genuine cocktail experience.

2. Jimmy Juice

If you’re looking for something local, Jimmy Juice doesn’t get much more local to southeastern Pennsylvania.

Jimmy Juice is produced and packaged in Lancaster County, and the company describes its drinks as carbonated cocktails made with real fruit juice.

The lineup has plenty of variety, too.

Classic Orange Fizzy. Blanco Ginger Fizzy. The Pink Flamingo. Juicy Pineapple Fizzy. Cranberry Citrus Fizzy.

The Tequila Ginger Fizzy packs a punch for those looking for something considerably stronger. Also my favorite one in the line up. Variety packs also are around to give them all a try.

What makes Jimmy Juice interesting is that it sits somewhere between the easy-drinking world of canned seltzers and the stronger spirit-based RTDs.

One of the stories behind these guys is they are the signature cocktail at Sickman’s Mill where people float down the Pequea Creek in tubes. The drink is named after the late owner’s dog, Jimmy. In many aspects, this drink tells a story and an experience. A real Pennsylvania canned cocktail.

You don’t have to go very far to find something interesting.

3. Not Pizza

Yes, the name is Not Pizza. And no, it isn’t pizza.

It’s a canned cocktail company from Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Not Pizza makes vodka-based RTDs including flavors such as Orange, Berry, Lemonade, Iced Tea Vodka Seltzer, Espresso Martini and Margarita. These guys Chris and Luke started this brand from scratch and grew it exponentially over a year and a half. A phenomenal feat for some guys with contagiously fun personalities, an idea, and the odds against them.

That’s part of the appeal.

Not Pizza isn’t trying to look like another giant beverage company. It has a distinct identity, a local origin and a lineup that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The Espresso Martini is especially worth mentioning because it’s a completely different lane from the iced-tea-heavy RTD market. It’s at a great price that gets you 4- 12oz cans for about the price of one at the bar. And it’s my girlfriend’s one drink she swears by.

If your usual canned cocktail is tea, lemonade or a vodka seltzer, an espresso martini is about as far away from that as you can get without leaving the category entirely.

And sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for.

4. 2Moods

2Moods has changed its lineup, but the Orange Crush remains.

The Pennsylvania-made brand currently offers Orange Crush in two versions: a 4% ABV CHILL and an 8% ABV THRILL. Both use vodka, fruit juice and natural flavors.

That’s a pretty clever idea. Same basic flavor. Different occasion.

The 4% version is designed to be lighter and more sessionable, while the 8% version gives you something considerably more substantial. And if you like an Orange Crush, this is an easy one to understand.

The bigger point, though, is that 2Moods shows how much room there is in the Pennsylvania RTD market.

You don’t have to make another iced tea to compete in canned cocktails. I was never an orange crush guy until I had this one and I have to say that they have changed my mind.

Sometimes you just need to make a really good Orange Crush.

5. Fishtown Iced Tea

This might be the most distinctly Philadelphia drink on the list.

Fishtown Iced Tea wasn’t invented by a giant beverage company looking for the next RTD trend.

It started at Interstate Drafthouse in Philadelphia.

The original cocktail was inspired by Arctic Splash iced tea, a Pennsylvania staple that was particularly popular around Philadelphia and the surrounding region. The bar turned that iced tea into a cocktail using vodka, tequila, rum and triple sec.

When COVID shut down bars in 2020, Interstate began selling the drink to-go. That helped introduce Fishtown Iced Tea to a much larger audience. Then, after 18 months of work on the recipe, the canned version launched in 2022.That’s a pretty great origin story for a canned cocktail. It’s a Philly drink that happened to find its way into a can.

The ingredient list says it all: Rum. Tequila. Vodka. Triple Sec. Iced tea.

That’s not your average vodka iced tea. That’s a recipe for a good time in my book.

So, Which Pennsylvania RTD Should You Try?

That’s going to depend on what you’re looking for.

Want something that actually resembles a cocktail? Try Top Dog.

Fancy a Pennsylvania-made fizzy fruit cocktail? Go with Jimmy Juice.

Need something a little different? Not Pizza has you covered.

Have a craving for an Orange Crush? 2Moods gives you two different ABV options.

Want something with a distinctly Philadelphia identity? Fishtown Iced Tea is tough to beat.

And if you’re perfectly happy with Surfside, that’s fine too.

The point isn’t that these brands are somehow better just because they’re smaller or local.

It’s that there’s a lot more happening in the Pennsylvania canned cocktail scene than the two brands you see everywhere.

Surfside may be the biggest name in the room.

It doesn’t have to be the only one you know.

The Pennsylvania Canned Cocktail Scene Is Bigger Than You Think

The rise of RTDs has created a pretty interesting situation in Pennsylvania.

A few years ago, canned cocktails were still something of a novelty. Now they’re one of the fastest-growing ways people buy cocktails. Common drinkers in today’s world are looking for the experience of the cocktail. With the cocktail in a can, they are trying to replicate that experience, or the feeling of that experience.

At the same time, smaller Pennsylvania producers are finding ways to put their own spin on the category.

That’s what makes these five interesting.

They’re not five copies of Surfside.

They are five different answers to the same question:

What if you could have a good cocktail without having to make one?

And around here, we’ve got plenty of Pennsylvania canned cocktail answers.