The carbonated beverage Bubbl’r is a naturally caffeinated drink with flavor names that were created to entice: “Twisted Elix’r” and “Tropical Dream’r,” to name just a few. The main idea of the drink is that it is a sparkling water with health benefits and an additional 70 milligrams of naturally occurring caffeine. The beverage is said to have antioxidants, making it delicious yet healthy. 

Bubbl’r was introduced to the Parker cafeteria last year. “Bubbl’r was requested through student food committee meetings,” Food Service Director Zac Maness said. “Bubbl’r was very popular when it was introduced.” 

Bubbl’r gives energy and provides flavors that are more appealing to kids and teenagers, making Parker the perfect place for the school to make a profit, but is a school really an appropriate place for energy drinks to be sold? “I think that [Bubbl’r] has its pros and cons,” freshman Pearl Ijiwola said. “I don’t think that it was a good idea to bring Bubbl’r to the cafeteria because people would buy it a lot and too much of it. It became very chaotic.”

 Caffeine has its pros and cons. While caffeine increases productivity, alertness, and could possibly improve mood for those who consume it, there are still risks. 

“Children between the ages of 12 and 18 should not consume more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day and should avoid energy drinks entirely,” a 2025 article by Johns Hopkins University concluded . The article states that children are more sensitive to caffeine than adults are because of their still developing brains. As a result, it is not recommended that children consume caffeine because it comes with a plethora of negative side effects. These side effects include increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and increased anxiety. It can cause problems with nutrient absorption as well. Not only can these side effects impact children, but they can possibly affect adults, too. 

Out of all the students that have cafeteria access for lunch, 178 of them are under the age of safe caffeine consumption. For those over the age of 12, 100 milligrams of caffeine is the safe amount to consume. But are these guidelines actually followed? A single can of Bubbl’r contains 70 milligrams of caffeine which is an acceptable amount of caffeine for a person 12 years and up to consume, however, students as young as fourth grade have access to the cafeteria during school hours, meaning that they also have access to Bubbl’r. 

 “I didn’t know about the Bubbl’r offering in the cafeteria,” fourth grade Head and teacher Maureen Cuesta said. “With all the medical research, I have to not recommend fourth graders consuming Bubbl’r at school.”

  Alongside these risks, Bubbl’r does have benefits. “Caffiene is a both a natural product and a drug. It’s a mixed bag of good and not-so-good,” wrote Aurora Health Care in 2025. The drink has antioxidants which, according to a 2025 article by the Mayo Clinic, may help prevent cell damage and serious diseases like cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. 

Bubbl’r contains several essential vitamins in large quantities. One can of Bubbl’r has 50 percent of the recommended amount of vitamin A. It also has zero grams of sugar and is a low glycemic drink. This means that it won’t spike blood sugar because it is sweetened with stevia leaf, a natural sweetener. 

 Cans of “Triple Berry Breez’r” flavored Bubbl’r filled the hallway trash cans as the year progressed. Additionally, some students would treat their passing periods as a time to stock up on some Bubbl’r. It’s a known rule that students in the eighth grade and below who have access to the cafeteria aren’t permitted to use their passing periods as a time to grab refreshments or snacks from the cafeteria. Teachers had to interrogate their students, asking why they were coming to class with a cold, unopened can of Bubbl’r. 

Later on in the year, the cafeteria was informed of problems that faculty members had with the beverage. “We received feedback from faculty asking us not to offer it to students younger than Upper School, so we pulled it from the shelves and only offered it by request to Upper School students during school hours.  The drink was available after school for all students,” Maness said. Will we see “Twisted Elix’r” or “Tropical Dream’r” return to the shelves of the Parker cafeteria? It has not been decided yet whether or not the bubbly energy drink will be an item sold this school year. Every school year the cafeteria sells a new item or gets rid of an old one. Bubbl’r could possibly be an item that is replaced.