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BUBBLE BREAK BOBA BAR OPENS

Article By: ZAK KEENEY – Herald and News

With a mission to provide a refreshing non-alcoholic environment for families, youth and the young at heart, Bubble Break Boba Bar aims to be the go-to destination for a unique drink experience.

Growing up in a small town, Jessica and Garrett Steensland understand the challenges of limited after-school activities and places for youth to gather. Bubble Break Boba Bar is poised to address this issue by offering a safe and enjoyable space where patrons can relax, socialize, and escape the stresses of everyday life. The menu features an array of bubble drinks, Italian cream sodas and flavored lemonades, all adorned with tantalizing toppings such as tapioca pearls, popping boba, jellies or fruit puree with 484 possible drink combinations.

Raised in the Klamath Basin, Jessica Steensland remembers the days of Skateland (a local popular roller rink) and how she and her friends would spend countless hours there after school until 2004 when Skateland permanently closed.

“It was really hard and kind of annoying. I just wanted to have a place to go and hang out with my friends and socialize; to have some form of independence,” she recalls. “There wasn’t much for us [teenagers] to do.”

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs herself, Steensland at 14 years old began to bounce around ideas for a business that could be a new hip hangout for teens and young adults.

Between balancing school and helping at her family’s business and being unable to latch on to a business idea, Steensland pushed the idea to the “backburner”.

“Over the years it became sort of a lost dream,” she said. “I really wanted to do something, but not really knowing how to make it happen or what the business would be and how to make it sustainable, it just kept being pushed back.”

To cope with a lack of safespace to relax, Steensland said many of her peers turned to partying and began to experiment with alcohol and drugs.

“It was the easiest thing to do, go to a friend’s house and drink,” she said.

Having gone through those experiences and difficulties herself was what “inspired a yearning” to create a place like Bubble Break Boba Bar.

“I always wondered why it seems like we are training our youth to anticipate going to the bar and indulge in alcohol,” Steensland said.

Discussing this vision with her husband of 12 years, Garrett Steensland, the couple desperately wanted to see the dream come true.

“I really wanted to actualize her vision and bring this positive aspect to our community, but I could never think of a way to make it financially viable,” Garrett told the Herald & News. “A nonalcoholic ‘nightclub’ essentially just wouldn’t do well in Klamath Falls. I couldn’t come up with an idea.” However, an idea did begin to take hold by way of their 10-year-old daughter.

In June 2023, Miura, the Steensland’s daughter, approached her parents with a desire to start a lemonade stand and asked to have the “popping bubbles in it like Lighthouse Yogurt” which also spurred the idea to serve boba tea at the stand too.

Together, the family purchased the products selected by Miura for the stand along with some Asian candies and stuffed animals. Latching on to the idea Garrett built a cart made from burnt wood and galvanized metal complete with an induction stove top and a running sink.

“I came to him with this great idea about putting milk crates together and having a countertop,” Jessica laughed. “Garrett really elevated the idea.”

Becoming a fast success, the Steenslands would wheel their cart out from their garage and sell on the corner of Pacific Terrace and Van Ness.

“It really took off in our neighborhood and somebody posted about it and that’s when we made a Facebook page [for the stand],” Jessica said. “It just grew from there.”

On their Facebook page, they posted their “pop-up” hours and started to see customers from Chiloquin, Merril, Malin, Tulelake and Bonanza. They began to take the cart to birthday parties and events around that time too.

“We started only selling two sizes — 8 oz. and 12 oz. — and repeat customers would say that we need to get bigger cups. We aren’t making it all the way home with our drinks,” Jessica said.

Hearing more feedback from customers about how Klamath Falls needs a boba bar, Miura devised the name Bubble Break while her parents shopped for a storefront.

“We went back and forth on the brick and mortar idea,” Garret said. “We loved the atmosphere we had at home. We had picnic benches and at times would have 20 people lounging around and drinking their drinks and socializing. We were quickly growing past what the cart could manage and so initially thought about operating from a food truck.”

Feeling like they would then miss out on the social aspect, the food truck, while they admitted it would save on overhead costs, would lack the totality of their vision.

“When we made drinks at the cart, it was very face-to-face and very personal. We got to have conversations with people. We didn’t feel above or below anybody. We were just there with each other. We wanted to transfer the atmosphere of openness and community that the boba cart had into the boba bar,” Jessica said.

Located at 1775 Washburn Way in the Tower Shopping Center, Bubble Break Boba Bar offers diverse beverage options in an engaging atmosphere. Brain teaser games, video game consoles and planned live music, poem readings, and trivia nights are just a few ways that the Steenslands aim to make every visit memorable. The establishment also boasts a selection of Asian candies, snacks and unique items.

“We really want this place to be the community’s,” the Steenslands said. “We want to give the alternative for people that want social aspects, but don’t necessarily want to be in a bar setting.”

BREAK THE THIRST AND BUBBLE OVER