Similar to the bigger mug, Been There Ornament Alabama v2 is a revised design of the previously released mini mug. As I’ve mentioned in the recent post, the main change is the lack of “the cotton state” nickname. You can use the picture below to quickly identify which of the ornaments is which:
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Starbucks Been There Alabama v2 is an updated version of the mug that was released five years ago. I am not surprised that designers removed “the cotton state” nickname from the mug, as it was raising the question of what it has to do with Alabama. Other rather obvious changes include:
– the appearance of a friendly-looking bear and a giant butterfly
– the planes are gone. As a reminder, these were related to the Tuskegee Airmen, which were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces.… Read more
In an attempt to review all of the YAH releases by the end of this year, let me present Starbucks You Are Here Orléans mug to you. Orléans is a city in north-central France, not far from Paris. It was an important trade port for ages, thanks to its location on the river Loire, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. You can see the waters of Loire across the mug (in the lower part).
Another interesting fact is that Orleans was the capital of the Kingdom of France during the Merovingian period and played an important role in the Hundred Years’ War, specifically in the siege of Orleans.… Read more
As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, there are more mugs from France waiting for their turn to be reviewed. You Are Here Grenoble is one of them.
Grenoble is located at the foot of the French Alps and is sometimes called the “Capital of the Alps”. Here are some quick interesting facts you probably didn’t know about Grenoble:
– it was named the European Green Capital in 2022
– it is one of the most important research, technology, and innovation hubs in Europe.… Read more
It looks like France is in the spotlight for the remaining releases from the YAH series. I am almost sure these were planned some time ago, but due to production and logistics issues are only appearing now. There are a couple more releases expected, stay tuned for the updates!
Bayonne is a city in Southwestern France, close to the border with Spain. It is part of the Northern Basque Country, a.k.a. French Basque Country (Pays basque français). Please note, that there were two other mugs released for the Spanish Basque Country: Euskadi and Bilbao.… Read more
Here is an interesting release from the Pin Drop Collection subset of the Been There Series. As a reminder, the boxes of these mugs are orange, compared to regular blue and the cover has slightly different wording. You can see the comparison of the boxes below.
Starbucks Been There Niagara-on-the-Lake is a mug for a town in Ontario, Canada located at the Niagara river mouth, where it flows into Lake Ontario. An interesting historical detail is that the town served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada.… Read more
This beautiful Starbucks You Are Here Eindhoven mug is coming from the Netherlands. I love its colors and simple design.
Eindhoven is the fifth-largest city in the country located at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender rivers. It officially became a city in 1232 and experienced major growth in the 19th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Interestingly enough, electronics giant Philips was founded as a light bulb manufacturing company in Eindhoven in 1891. The city is a major technology and industrial hub and also is home to research institutes, like the Eindhoven University of Technology.… Read more
Starbucks Been There Ornament – Vientiane is very similar to the bigger size mug, which I reviewed earlier. All of the places of interest that I’ve mentioned in my review are kept, including The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, which I believe was included in the design by mistake.
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Been There – Vientiane mug is dedicated to the opening of the first Starbucks store in Laos and the further expansion of the company in Southeast Asia. The store is designed in collaboration with local artists while honoring the heritage and beauty of Laotian art and folklore.
Vientiane is the capital of the country and its largest city. It is located right on the border with Thailand separated from it by the Mekong river.
Here are some symbols and points of attraction from the design of the mug:
– Patuxai (the arch next to the handle) is a war monument dedicated to those who fought in the war for independence from France (1949).… Read more
Starbucks You Are Here Yorkshire is a mug for the County of York, which is the largest historic county in the United Kingdom. For administrative purposes, it is now divided into four ceremonial counties: the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire. You can see all four of them outlined on the back of the mug. Because of the pale color that was chosen for the East Riding of Yorkshire, my initial reaction was that designers somehow missed it.… Read more
