Shayne O’Brien loves Topo Chico so much that when he heard that the cult favorite sparkling water might be disappearing from shelves, he rushed to stockpile more than 200 bottles.
Even that wouldn’t be enough to get him through the great Topo Chico drought of 2026. O’Brien, a cattle rancher and pastor outside Austin, notes that he is the author of a book on grief. And yet he said he wasn’t fully prepared for what it would be like to be without his beloved beverage.
Parent company Coca-Cola issued a statement to CNN in February that it had stopped production pending necessary “upgrades” at its water source and bottling facility in Monterrey, Mexico.
That disruption ended up being so prolonged that executives cited it in an earnings call this week in response to analyst questions about slow sales across Coke products in North America.
“If you were to factor in the Topo Chico situation we’ve had this year, and you factor in the timing of investments — you take those out, our price mix for the year is pretty much within the band that we would look to deliver,” said John Murphy, Coca-Cola’s president and chief financial officer.
But executives confirmed that the restocking of Topo Chico was finally underway — starting in Texas, where it enjoys a particularly devoted following. The drink is known for its heavy carbonation and slightly salty flavor.
“We know people have missed Topo Chico, and we’re excited to bring its iconic bubbles back to shelves, with plans to expand to additional U.S. markets in 2027,” a company spokesperson said.
The shortage impacted only the brand’s glass-bottle products. Topo Chico also makes canned carbonated water and alcoholic seltzers.
O’Brien, who doesn’t drink alcohol, calls Topo Chico “pastor beer” and served it at a party celebrating the 21st birthday of his 1,200-person church. He said it captures the burn of soda for him but without the sugar.
He was thrilled to find the bottles back in stock locally. He’ll be “fully restored,” he said, when he can get his hands on the twist-of-lime version.
Topo Chico, a brand in Mexico since 1895, was first commercially distributed in the United States in the 1980s. Executives for the drink have credited Mexican expatriates for bringing it across the border. It especially took hold in Texas, where it was adopted as an indispensable ingredient in “ranch water,” a tequila-and-lime drink.
With its acquisition by Coca-Cola in 2017 and a boom in Americans drinking seltzer water, the brand’s recognition has since spread beyond the Lone Star State.
“The NYT discovers Topo Chico. It’s all over,” tweeted Bloomberg journalist Joe Weisenthal, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, after the New York Times published a 2016 story about the bubbly glass bottles.
In earnings released Tuesday, Coca-Cola revenues in North America were flat in the third quarter of 2026, marking lackluster demand in the United States and Canada.
Instead, the company’s sales were largely driven by success in Latin America and Asia. Sales for Coke Zero exploded, growing by 16 percent worldwide. Diet Coke, sometimes nicknamed a “fridge cigarette,” performed less well, increasing in sales by only 6 percent.
This isn’t the first time that Topo Chico has suffered from shortages. During the pandemic, a crunch in raw materials prompted Texas grocery stores to limit how many bottles people could purchase at a time, according to local news outlets.
Trey Melcher, owner of a bar called Railyard in Houston, recalled trying out alternatives like San Pellegrino, Perrier and another Mexican sparkling water called Hethe. But customers weren’t as enthusiastic.
With Topo Chico, “if you open a bottle, it stays carbonated much longer than some of the other options out there,” he said. “Really, nothing seems to do as well as just regular Topo Chico in a glass bottle for us.”
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