Discovery Series Ornament – Taichung

The Starbucks Discovery Series Ornament Taichung highlights a few of the city’s best-known natural, cultural, and recreational features. Taichung developed from a regional settlement into one of Taiwan’s largest urban centers, while still retaining easy access to mountains, wetlands, flower farms, and agricultural areas. Its location in central Taiwan gives the city a particularly varied landscape, stretching from the coast in the west to higher elevations farther inland.

– The large cup of bubble tea is a fitting choice for Taichung, which is widely associated with the drink’s origins.… Read more

Discovery Series – Kyoto

The Starbucks Discovery Series Kyoto mug explores a city that served as Japan’s imperial capital for more than a thousand years, from 794 until the emperor moved to Tokyo in 1869. Over the centuries, Kyoto became one of the country’s most important centers of religion, art, traditional crafts, and court culture. Much of that heritage survived the rapid modernization experienced elsewhere in Japan, leaving the city with an extraordinary concentration of temples, historic neighborhoods, gardens, and traditional wooden houses.

– The traditional building above the city name is the Starbucks Coffee Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya, one of the most distinctive Starbucks stores in Japan.… Read more

You Are Here Disney – Magic Kingdom Adventureland / Frontierland prototype

Thanks to my favorite seller, we have a chance to review some of the prototypes that were never released to stores. This You Are Here Magic Kingdom Adventureland / Frontierland (2016 prototype) is one of them. The design seems to focus mostly on Frontierland and Adventureland, combining attractions and imagery from both areas rather than covering the entire park evenly. This approach makes even more sense in hindsight, as Starbucks later released other Magic Kingdom designs with a stronger focus on Fantasyland and Tomorrowland

Splash Mountain is one of the easiest attractions to recognize on the design, with its steep rocky peak and waterfall.… Read more

Discovery Series Ornament – Santa Cruz de la Sierra

The Starbucks Discovery Series Ornament Santa Cruz de la Sierra offers a smaller selection of symbols from Bolivia’s largest city and the surrounding eastern lowlands. Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded by Ñuflo de Chaves in 1561 and was moved more than once before becoming established at its present location. Over time, it developed into the economic center of eastern Bolivia, with a culture and landscape quite different from the country’s high-altitude Andean cities.

– The sloth is one of the most distinctive animals found in Bolivia’s tropical lowlands.… Read more

Discovery Series – Phuket

The Starbucks Discovery Series Phuket mug explores Thailand’s largest island, known for its beaches, maritime culture, historic old town, and distinctive Peranakan heritage. Phuket grew into an important trading and tin-mining center, attracting Chinese, Indian, European, and Muslim communities whose influence can still be seen in the island’s architecture and food. Today, Phuket combines a busy international tourism industry with traditions that developed over centuries around fishing, trade, and life by the Andaman Sea.

Air travel is an important part of modern Phuket, with the island serving as one of Thailand’s busiest international destinations.… Read more

Discovery Series – Monterrey

The Starbucks Discovery Series Monterrey mug highlights the capital of Nuevo León, one of northern Mexico’s most important industrial and business centers. Monterrey was founded in 1596 and grew significantly during the 19th and 20th centuries as industry, steel production, and manufacturing transformed the city. Its location at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental gives Monterrey a particularly dramatic setting, with mountains rising immediately beyond the urban area. The design reflects that combination of modern city life, outdoor recreation, regional food, and some of Monterrey’s most recognizable natural landmarks.… Read more

Discovery Series Ornament – Taoyuan

The Discovery Series Ornament Taoyuan is an especially interesting release because Taoyuan did not receive its own mug or ornament during either the You Are Here or Been There series. The city was previously featured in the older Relief series, however, so this is not actually Taoyuan’s first appearance in the Starbucks collectible lineup. Instead, it marks the city’s return after being absent from the two major series that followed Relief.

Another detail only became apparent to me while looking at this ornament: the inside of the cup does not carry the Starbucks brand name.… Read more

Discovery Series – Kobe

The Starbucks Discovery Series Kobe mug focuses on the port city’s distinctive mix of maritime scenery, Western influence, music, food, and hillside neighborhoods. Kobe developed rapidly after its port opened to foreign trade in 1868, and the arrival of merchants and residents from overseas left a lasting mark on the city’s architecture and culture. That history is especially visible in areas such as Kitano, while the harbor, Mount Rokko, and the city’s strong food and music traditions continue to shape Kobe’s identity today.… Read more

Relief – Barcelona

The Relief Barcelona mug adds another Spanish city to Starbucks’ Relief collection. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and a city with roots stretching back to the Roman settlement of Barcino, founded more than 2,000 years ago. It later became an important Mediterranean trading center and experienced enormous growth during the 19th century, when the medieval city expanded into the new Eixample district. This period also helped transform Barcelona into a center of Catalan Modernisme, leaving the city with the distinctive architecture for which it is known today.… Read more

Discovery Series Ornament – Costa Rica

The Starbucks Discovery Series Ornament Costa Rica highlights the extraordinary wildlife and landscapes of this small Central American country. Costa Rica became independent from Spain in 1821 and is known today for its commitment to protecting its natural environment. Despite covering only a small part of the world’s land surface, the country contains tropical rainforests, cloud forests, volcanoes, beaches, and an exceptional variety of wildlife, much of it protected within national parks and reserves.

– The Arenal Volcano is one of Costa Rica’s most recognizable natural landmarks.… Read more

1 2 3 264