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I love all sparkling water and—if I'm being honest—I usually go for quantity over quality. I just want effervescent water tingling my tongue all day, every day, doesn't matter what it is.

But when I'm really treating myself, there's only one option that will do. Hands down, the best sparkling water isn't La Croix. It isn't Vintage. It's Topo Chico.

Topo Chico is a mineral water that has been sourced and bottled in Monterrey, Mexico, at the Cerro del Topo Chico spring since 1895. Yes, this water has been bottled for the last two centuries. It's naturally carbonated, with just a little extra carbonation added to restore any bubbles lost in the purification process. And folks across Texas are obsessed with the stuff. Once you taste it, you will be, too. Even my coworker Adina, who has a lifelong hatred of seltzer, has fallen under Topo Chico's thrall—take that for an endorsement. Could it be the mysterious benefits of the water itself, which supposedly has healing powers? We'll let you decide on that part.

But there's no denying that Topo Chico is powerfully effervescent—but its bubbles are less abrasive than most sparkling waters, more like pleasant little pinpricks than relentless fizz. It tastes lightly of minerals, but it doesn't smack you over the head with the flavor of rocks like some other sparkling waters do.

And let's not neglect the visuals. Topo comes in beautiful glass bottles with a blueish tint that hits you with the full force of summer. Its label is brightly colored in yellow and red and has a sort of retro feel. Just looking at a bottle makes me thirsty. I shamefully want to go to the beach, stick it in some sand, and Instagram the sweating bottle with the ocean in the background. I'm not perfect.

It's no secret that there's a flavored sparkling water thing happening in the world. People are going crazy, suddenly, for those La Croix cans our health-conscious mothers were sipping between cocktails in the early '90s before they were cool. Our editor, David, fell in lust with Spindrift—a worthy competitor on the flavored-water battlefield. But part of the joy of Topo Chico—sparkling water purists since 1895—is that it exists outside of this bubble (though it does have plenty of bubbles). It's been here long before the zero-calorie flavored-water craze, and it will remain long after.