Artist Jessa Dressel, center, with her brother Tyler and mother Becky.

When a person savors their first sip of boba tea and the creamy fruity-herbal flavors dance in the mouth with a burst of popping bubbles, it’s hard to imagine an experience with Star Cup and boba tea becoming more enjoyable. Since Star Cup’s grand opening for the Barstow location in June, owner Bibi Krumenauer and her husband Vince have added even more flavor to the shop. Now, with every sip of tea or burst of boba, customers can take in the “Boba Tree” mural.

When the pair first opened their doors to their new shop, they knew they wanted to do something vibrant and funky to highlight their new shop. Then, they hired Jessa Dressel. Dressel joined the team as a barista and part-time Marketing Consultant. Now in her senior year, Dressel is a marketing student at North Central University in Minneapolis, but she’s always loved painting. “My love for painting grew in high school. I loved painting for friends and family, but I never dreamed I would ever do something quite this big,” Jessa says. Meeting Bibi and Vince must have been kismet because – when she first saw the shop – she thought it would be fun to add something of interest to the store’s interior wall, near the entrance.

“We kinda put her on the spot,” Vince chuckled. “We wanted to see how creative Jessa could be, so we asked her what ideas she had for the shop.” Jessa agreed. “I was apprehensive at first because it was only my second day on the job. I wasn’t sure how they’d respond to the idea of putting a mural on their wall.”

The “Boba Tree” spans an entire 24 x 10 foot wall. In place of leaves, there are intricately patterned boba bubbles in an array of colors: teal, purple, green, blue, orange, yellow, and red. The expansive tree and its bubbles were all free-handed. Jessa enlisted the help of her family to paint the mural. With her bubbly smile she admitted that she couldn’t have done it without their support. “With all of our man hours combined, we worked on the mural for 86 hours – all overnight.” A person could sip boba tea for hours just to soak in the mural. Each bubble is as unique as a cup of boba tea. 

Bibi and Vince are grateful for the work and creativity Jessa brings. “It’s really cool to see people excited about this mural and interacting with it. We want people to interact with it and take pictures!” Vince said. The Krumenauers plan to add more murals to future locations and hope to include Jessa in as many projects as they can. Jessa – of course – still plans to keep on painting and expand her horizons. “Not to sound like a cheese ball,” Jessa laughed, “but this experience totally taught me that anything is possible. I never thought I’d ever paint a mural but I did!”