Everyone has their favorite handcrafted beverage order, whether coffee, tea, or soda-based.
In the last few years, specialty beverages have become a not-so-secret gold mine in the food industry.
Many companies are investing in this trend by developing their own creations to better compete with rivals, attract a bigger audience, and boost sales.
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Taco Bell began noticing the huge pull specialty beverages had on younger generations, especially Gen Z, and started introducing specialty drinks in its restaurants to capitalize on this trend.
Mountain Dew Baja Blast was the first drink to result from this initiative. It quickly became one of its most popular items, which led the fast-food chain to trademark it.
Related: Taco Bell announces new menu items to battle McDonald’s
To capitalize on this viral trend, Taco Bell opened the first-ever Taco Bell Live Más Café in Chula Vista, California. This new concept features a variety of milkshake flavors, iced and hot coffee, fruity drinks, and fizzy sodas.
Image source: Taco Bell
Taco Bell launches a new lineup of beverages
Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Taco Bell introduced Agua Refrescas in April 2024 as a limited-time test run exclusively available at one of its Southern California restaurants.
Agua Refrescas were a new line of green tea-based beverages infused with fruit flavors, real fruit pieces, and 52 milligrams of caffeine. They were available in Strawberry Passionfruit, Peach Mango, and Dragonfruit Berry flavors.
Related: Taco Bell reveals 30 new menu items launching in 2025
With this launch, Taco Bell embraced the beverage trend, testing new drinks and obtaining customers’ feedback, which, if positive, could lead to a nationwide expansion.
“We want to make our beverages just as iconic as our food,” said Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Taylor Montgomery at the time of the release. “Our new Agua Refrescas are a perfect, vibrant pairing with everything our fans crave from Taco Bell and will help us on our journey to make Taco Bell a beverage destination.”
However, once the test run was over, the Agua Refresca beverages were not made available at any other locations — until now.
Taco Bell returnds Refrescas to its menu
Taco Bell has re-launched Refrescas, but this time, it’s expanding them to all participating locations nationwide for a limited time and launching new additions to enhance the lineup.
The fast-food chain has brought back the Agua Refresca line in the same flavors it had last year and a new Strawberry Lime Freeze with the same ingredients, but in a frozen version.
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But that’s not all. Taco Bell is also introducing new Energy Refrescas, which feature the Rock Star Focus Energy drink, Lion’s Mane, B vitamins, guarana, and taurine, for a total of 200 milligrams of caffeine. These new energy-packed drinks come in Tropical Punch and Pineapple Lime flavors.
This latest release helps Taco Bell strengthen its foothold in the beverage market. By dabbling in energy drinks, it taps into the second most-popular dietary supplement consumed by teenagers and young adults in the U.S., behind multivitamins.
With a successful fast-food business and the fan-favorite Mountain Dew Baja Blast already under its belt, Taco Bell could soon take the throne its rivals have occupied.
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