Topo Chico

Twist of Grapefruit

Despite the fact that seeing Twist of Grapefruit on the bottle cap somehow always leads us to believe that these glass bottles have twist-tops (really? tricked again! 🤦🏻‍♀️), we can’t stay mad at Topo Chico. 

And it’s not just that Topo Chico has epic mineral expression and piquant bubbles in each and every bottle: in the Great Aluminum Can Shortage of 2020, these reliable green glass bottles are a godsend. We sleep well at night knowing that these babies are still stacked on the shelves as the LaCroix and Waterloo supplies dwindle.

Besides that, we love the classic and classy way these look lined up in our fridge. 

Okay, so now that we realized yet again that we can’t open these with our hands and have gone to retrieve our bottle opener, let’s look inside: 

We like to start with a solid sniff to see what awaits us. There’s not much of a nose on this bottle, just the slightest indication that minerally goodness is on the way.  Perhaps with a touch of something citric?

Tasting Notes

🔍🤷🏻‍♀️

First things first: any flavor in this will always be subservient to the glorious Topo Chico Bubble. “Bubble First!” appears to be the literal translation of Topo Chico. (Actually, google translate says “Topo Chico” means “Little Mole.” What??)

Either way, let’s wax reverent for a sec on this Little Grapefruit Mole’s effervescence! The bubble construction in Topo Chico is inimitable, timeless, powerful, crafted by natural forces in the deep subterranean aquifers of Nuevo León.

Ok, be that as it may, this one should actually be labelled hint of sour or generic lime. (Not to be confused with their “Twist of Lime” flavor, which is genuinely great!)

This is not a strong showing, not in the category of replicating grapefruit (of which there are many strong and diverse showings), nor in the originality of any particular fruit at all.  No trace of the familiar bitterness or juicy sweetness.  Just citric acid and the vaguest citrus aftertaste.  We were actually convinced that the bottle was mislabeled until we got a second one to confirm!

The flavor here is the equivalent of squeezing a sad lime into your ice water. There’s not much that’s gonna happen other than you’re just not drinking plain water anymore. 

But to be honest, who cares? Because Topo Chico always is and always will be about their perfect, bubble-forward water and their strong mineral-driven flavor. That is why we’re here, and that’s why we’ll keep coming back.

If anything, dabbling into the flavored ones is just to mix things up when we’ve fatigued ourselves from pounding so much of their classic, unflavored original.

AND YET.

We like this.  It’s refreshing!  Somehow Topo Chico just sends us. It’s as if we are on a journey with our pre-colombian friend in the logo: on bended knee beside a cool stream, epic waterfall in the background.

We bring a fresh handful green bottle of water to our lips, quenching our parched throats, and bask in the crisp, almost abrasively sparkling minerality of what we’ve discovered. 

The “twist” of “grapefruit” is ultimately a light tart surprise that has made this inexplicably good, despite the failure of this sparkling water to deliver a solid, or even mediocre, grapefruit flavor. 

There truly is some kind of powerful water spirit at work in this one.