Rudy Pham, co-founder of Triple X.O.G., featured in BCBusiness
Maple Made — No. 001

The Vancouver duo turning karaoke-bar cognac and green tea into Canada's next canned cocktail

By the Grocer Folk team10 min read

Photo: Hanna Mclean for BCBusiness 30 Under 30, April 2026

Triple X.O.G. is Canada's first ready-to-drink canned cocktail made from cognac, jasmine green tea, and Canadian honey. Co-founded by Felix Chen and Rudy Pham in Vancouver, the brand launched in September 2024, sold over 75,000 units in its first year, and closed a $100,000 deal with Manjit Minhas on Dragons' Den Season 20. Here's why you've started seeing the slim black-and-gold can in BC and Alberta liquor stores — and whether it lives up to the founder story.

Key takeaways
  • Made in: East Vancouver, BC, by Golden Triangle Beverage Company.
  • Founders: Felix Chen (Taiwanese-Canadian, engineer) and Rudy Pham (Vietnamese-German-Canadian, ex-life-insurance) — high school friends who bootstrapped without outside funding.
  • Dragons' Den: Season 20 Episode 2, fall 2025 — accepted $100,000 for 20% from Manjit Minhas after also receiving $100,000 for 15.7% from Wes Hall.
  • The product: 5% ABV, 355mL cans, lightly carbonated, $21.50/4-pack — only ready-to-drink cognac green tea cocktail in Canada.
  • First-year sales: 75,000+ units, 100+ retail and hospitality partners across BC and Alberta.

From a karaoke-bar staple to a Vancouver-made can

The drink Triple X.O.G. is bottling has existed for a long time — just not in a can, and not on the regular liquor-store shelf. In Hong Kong, Taipei, and Asian-diaspora karaoke bars from Toronto to Sydney, mixing cognac with cold jasmine green tea has been a quietly canonical order for decades. Rudy Pham calls it the Asian gin and tonic. Felix Chen calls it the drink they kept ordering at every family wedding and karaoke night growing up.

In August 2022, Chen mixed it for Pham at a party. A month later, on a hike in BC, Pham asked the obvious question: why isn't this in a can already? Neither of them had any beverage-industry background — Chen was an engineer, Pham was selling life insurance. They spent six months researching how to legally produce alcohol in Canada, found a co-packer in East Vancouver (Coupe Beverages), and launched in September 2024.

“Green tea and cognac have been a staple in Asian nightlife culture for decades, but it's never been bottled or shared beyond our communities. We're proud to bring it from our roots to shelves across Canada.”

By the time they walked into the Dragons' Den a year later, they had moved 75,000+ units, signed 100+ retail and hospitality accounts in BC and Alberta, and never taken outside money. Wes Hall offered $100,000 for 15.7%. Manjit Minhas offered $100,000 for 20% and a path into her national distribution. They took Manjit's offer — partly because of the channel access, partly because, as Pham put it later, “you have to sacrifice what you have now for what you want later on.”

What it actually tastes like

Cold from the can: jasmine green tea hits first — cleaner and less astringent than a steeped tea bag — then a soft, warming cognac finish and a quiet, almost-not-there honey sweetness rolls in. The carbonation is light (think Topo Chico, not White Claw). At 5% ABV it's stronger than a hard seltzer but more sippable than a typical premix — easy to drink one, easier to drink three.

In a glass over ice: it actually holds up. Most canned cocktails go watery within 20 seconds; this one doesn't. The honey is what keeps the body together as the ice melts.

Next to the canned cocktails you already know: way less sweet than Cottage Springs or Nutrl, more flavour-forward than any hard seltzer, and unlike anything else on the shelf in 2026.

Where it sits on the canned-cocktail shelf

Triple X.O.G. is in a category of one — there is no other canned cognac green tea cocktail on the Canadian market in 2026. But the shelf it lives on is crowded. Here's where it sits next to the canned cocktails you probably already know:

BrandStyleABVPriceWhere to buyDD?
Triple X.O.G.FeaturedCognac + jasmine green tea + honey5%$21.50 / 4-pack100+ BC + AB private liquor✓ S20 (Minhas)
Cottage Springs Vodka SodaVodka + soda + flavor5%~$13.99 / 4-packLCBO, AGLC, nationwide
Georgian Bay SmashGin or vodka cocktail5–7%~$14.99 / 4-packLCBO + national
Nutrl Vodka SodaVodka + soda + fruit5%~$11.99 / 4-packNationwide
Cocktail Bomb ShopCocktail bombs (drop-in)0% (bomb only)~$24.99 / 4-packDTC + select retail✓ S17 (4-Dragon)

Prices reflect typical 4-pack retail at BC/AB private liquor and LCBO as of May 2026. Triple X.O.G.'s national footprint is still expanding; check the live store locator for current availability.

Where the brand lives online

The founders run the channels themselves — no agency in between. Felix and Rudy are the ones replying in the comments, posting the behind-the-scenes, and answering DMs about where to find the can in your city. If you want the realest sense of what this brand is actually like, watch them on TikTok and Instagram for a few minutes.

TikTok
Founder content
@drinktriplexog

Photo & video: @drinktriplexog on TikTok — the founders run the channel themselves.

Instagram
Brand feed — UGC + behind-the-scenes
View Triple X.O.G. on Instagram (@drinktriplexog) →

Photo: @drinktriplexog on Instagram.

What the press is saying

Where to actually buy it

Each link below goes directly to the Triple X.O.G. product page on that retailer's site, not the homepage — so you can add it to your cart without hunting:

Frequently asked questions

What is Triple X.O.G.?+
Triple X.O.G. is Canada's first ready-to-drink canned cocktail made from cognac, jasmine green tea, and Canadian honey. It is 5% ABV, sold in 355mL slim cans, and produced in East Vancouver, BC, by Golden Triangle Beverage Company.
Where can I buy Triple X.O.G.?+
Triple X.O.G. is available in over 100 private liquor stores across British Columbia and Alberta, plus direct from triplexog.com. As of May 2026 it is not stocked at the LCBO in Ontario or at BC Liquor government stores. The brand is targeting 5,000 retail locations nationwide.
How much does Triple X.O.G. cost?+
A 4-pack of 355mL cans is $21.50 CAD direct from triplexog.com. At West Coast Liquor in BC, a 4-pack is $21.89 CAD. 12-pack and 24-pack formats are also available online.
Who founded Triple X.O.G.?+
Triple X.O.G. was co-founded in 2024 by Felix Chen, a Taiwanese-Canadian engineer originally from Calgary, and Rudy Pham, a Vietnamese-German-Canadian former life-insurance professional from BC. Neither founder had prior beverage-industry experience and the company was bootstrapped without outside funding before Dragons' Den.
What deal did Triple X.O.G. get on Dragons' Den?+
On Dragons' Den Canada Season 20, Episode 2 (aired fall 2025), Triple X.O.G. received two offers: $100,000 for 15.7% from Wes Hall, and $100,000 for 20% from Manjit Minhas. The founders accepted Manjit Minhas's offer.
What does Triple X.O.G. taste like?+
Triple X.O.G. tastes like a lightly carbonated jasmine green tea with a warming cognac finish and a soft honey sweetness. It is less sweet than most canned cocktails and not bitter. The founders describe the original drink it homages as 'the Asian gin and tonic'.
Is Triple X.O.G. gluten-free?+
Yes. Triple X.O.G. contains cognac (distilled grape spirit), jasmine green tea, water, and Canadian honey. It contains no grain-based alcohol and no gluten ingredients. It is not certified gluten-free.
How well is Triple X.O.G. selling?+
Triple X.O.G. sold over 75,000 units in its first year on the market (September 2024 to September 2025), and signed 100+ retail and hospitality partners across BC and Alberta in its first six months. (Source: BCBusiness 30 Under 30 2026 feature, April 2026.)

Bottom line

Triple X.O.G. is the rare canned cocktail that earns its shelf space on flavour, not novelty. The story is real, the founders run the brand themselves, the product is a category of one in Canada, and the early sales numbers back it up. The biggest knock right now is geography — if you live east of Calgary, you're ordering it shipped. That changes when the Manjit Minhas channels kick in. We'll be following.

About this series

Maple Made — independent Canadian brands, deeply profiled

Every other week we pick one independent Canadian brand worth knowing about and tell its real story — the founders, the product, what people are saying online, where to actually buy it. No sponsored posts. No affiliate links. We just want more people to find these brands.

Disclosure: Grocer Folk helps Canadian CPG brands run paid media on Instacart, Meta, and Google. Triple X.O.G. is not a Grocer Folk client at the time of writing. We chose to profile them because they're a strong example of an independent Canadian brand doing the work.