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‘What real freedom looks like’: Ready-to-drink cocktails arrive in stores as Pa. relaxes liquor laws

Ready-to-drink cocktails will be sold in grocery stores and gas stations starting Monday, but only before 11 p.m.

  • By Cory Sharber/WHYY
Stateside Vodka is a Kensington-based distiller that makes canned cocktails. (Stateside Vodka/Facebook)

Stateside Vodka is a Kensington-based distiller that makes canned cocktails. (Stateside Vodka/Facebook)

Starting Monday, ready-to-drink cocktails will be sold at grocery stores and gas stations in Pennsylvania after the governor signed bipartisan legislation into law earlier this year.

Senate Bill 688 was signed into law as part of the 2024–25 state budget after the state Senate approved the bill, 32-17, in July and sent it to the governor’s desk. By amending the state’s liquor code, cocktails ranging from 0.5% alcohol beverage by volume (ABV) to 12.5% ABV in original containers up to 16 ounces will now be sold beyond the state’s liquor stores.

“This is what real freedom looks like, and we did it in a way that protects taxpayers and supports our state workers,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a release in August.

According to the bill, drinks can only be sold before 11 p.m.

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