The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
The Spot ‘a destination’ for bubble tea, acai bowls
DEEP RIVER — Just like its name, The Spot seems to be ‘the spot’ in town to get your bubble tea.
For the uninitiated, bubble tea is a cold drink with floating soft tapioca pearls that burst with sweetness from caramelized brown sugar.
On a sunny winter afternoon, a steady stream of customers came in to order their specialty drinks.
The tea shop’s COVID-delayed grand opening will take place 10 a.m., Feb. 22 at a ribbon cutting with the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce.
While the sun seemed to bring the customers out, dreary days can also entice a crowd into the bright space, where proprietress Kate Bergeron aims to create a “home away from home vibe.”
Since it opened in 2021, the little tea shop is “kind of a destination” both for its offerings and the inviting atmosphere.
“I want people to put their feet up, grab a blanket, read a book,” she said.
But the big draw is the bubble tea and acai bowls.
“Bubble tea is very trendy — people will travel for their bubble tea and acai bowls,” Bergeron said. “We get people from Colchester, Old Lyme and Branford, Middletown.”
They also offer a special bubble tea with a “popping boba which bursts in your mouth” that are especially popular with teens.
All tea is cold brewed and unsweetened and the selections are varied. Boba or bubbles can be added to any drink they serve — cold brew coffee, sparkling water or ginger beer.
“We don’t like artificial sweeteners,” said Adam Plott who is engaged to Bergeron and makes the acai bowls.
To order a fruit-based bubble tea, customers choose their fruit puree – the most popular is mango puree – and pick their tea, black, green or raspberry hibiscus.
The tea shop also serves milk teas such as Organic Chai, Matcha Latte and their signature “Date Flame” and offers nondairy options such as almond, oat and coconut milk. Hot drinks are also offered such as coffee, lattes, mochas, hot tea and cocoa.
Longtime customer Tom Cowager is a big fan of The Spot: “It starts with Kate’s welcome, and extends to a varied healthy-foryou menu,” he said in a text message.
“The atmosphere is fun, welcoming and feels a bit like home. I can enjoy it with friends and family. Even my grandchildren love it because there are games, puzzles,” he added.
“Rainy days equals comfy, cozy game day here,” Bergeron said with a grin. “We break out the Jenga and the games,” which may include Bananagrams, board games such as Tic Tac Toe, Connect 4, Mancala or cards.
Patrons are also welcome to strum her ukulele that hangs on the wall or the Kalimba thumb piano, an African instrument.
The Spot came about through synchronicity when Bergeron returned home to Deep River four years ago with her four children after a divorce. She ended up renting a house her parents own, where she lives with her daughter Eloise, 15, son Julian, 11, and the twins, 8-year-olds James and Vivian.
Before opening The Spot, the single mom worked odd jobs waiting tables, refinishing furniture and doing crafts which she sold on Etsy.
“First COVID was going on,” she recalled. “I was at home, home-schooling four kids, I had no income . ... It was a struggle.”
Walking downtown Deep River with Eloise, they noticed the vacant storefront, which she always loved.
“This spot just called to me,” she recalled. But it was Eloise who told her, “‘Mom, oh my gosh we need bubble tea in Deep River!’”
Though not a fan of bubble tea because of the artificial flavors and powdered milk commonly used, she quickly came around: “That’s a genius idea.”
After research, Bergeron became a true convert. She fell in love with the bubble tea served at Loose Leaf Boba Company in New Haven. “This changes everything,’” she recalled.
“This I can get onboard with — it was natural, it wasn’t too sugary — you could tell they used fresh real ingredients,” she said.
She came up with her own recipes; the fresh fruit puree is her own twist, “It’s actually a serving of fruit, it’s not too sweet, it’s refreshing.” Fruit puree flavors include strawberry, raspberry, peach and mango.
Their homemade boba is cooked in a pressure cooker and kept warm. The sweetness comes from “that brown sugar caramel-ly flavor” that “intensifies all the other flavors,” Plott said.
The Spot makes its smoothies with fresh frozen fruit. “It’s literally just frozen fruit and acai,” she said.
And the other unique ingredient is spirulina, a colorful, nutrient dense form of algae, which Bergeron calls a “superfood.” “It’s beautiful,” she added. The smoothies and protein drinks, such as the Superhero use blue spirulina, while the Powerpuff has beet root. One of the most colorful drinks, “The Mermaid Tail is this beautiful blue,” she said.
Though Bergeron opened in the middle of the pandemic, she chose the popular weekend of the Deep River Muster and was mobbed her first day.
“It was a pretty wise move,” she said. “But I still had no idea what I was really doing. Two weeks later I added on the smoothies and the acai bowls.”
In winter she expanded the menu. Cold-weather favorites are made to order grilled cheeses, such as Swiss and portabella mushroom on whole grain, sour dough or gluten-free bread. They also serve gourmet soups, such as vegan chili from Penny Lane Pub in Old Saybrook.
Since opening, she has put her stamp on the place. A vintage juke box plays a mix of oldies from the ’60s and ’70s, top hits and reggae in the summer through its speakers via blue tooth.
Adding to The Spot’s a retro vibe are its original painted tin ceiling and old orange Formica booths from a beloved roller rink in Middletown that closed in the 1980s.
“There was initials carved into them, there was bubble gum stuck to the bottom,” Bergeron said. “I just left it — it’s nostalgic, it’s history.”
As the tea shop was coming together, she met Plott. “It was like instant, and we just knew.” Plott and his daughter, Trinity, now live with Bergeron’s family.
The couple recently launched a new food truck, which Plott, who teaches automotive technology at Porter and Chester in Bridgeport, is outfitting with custom convertible interiors that can be swapped in or out to suit the needs of each event.
The food truck’s next event is a Valentine’s pop-up craft market at Myrcene Ale’s Taproom and Brewery in Old Saybrook, on Feb 11, and in the spring will visit Stony Creek Brewery.
Bergeron wanted The Spot to become a local hang-out for kids: “I pictured this place bustling with kids,” she said.
To bring more teens in, she and Plott reached out to local high schoolers and held a contest to design a T-shirt for the cafe.
The couple teamed up with Valley Regional High School teacher Chris LeQuire, who teaches graphic design, and held a contest for two of his classes.
While the winning design was done by senior Mackenzie Parker, with a $200 prize, they are also selling the second and third place winners. The pair will be donating $5 per T-shirt to the graphics program at Valley Regional High School.
The couple helped make the shirts with the students. “It was really fun, neat way to get the kids involved — they were excited and to see what they came back with,” she said.
The couple is excited about the shop’s future. “We’ve made this our mission and want to do this together. We want to be able to do this full time,” Plott said.