It’s officially red cup season! On Thursday, Nov. 3, Starbucks’ new holiday red cups will be available in stores, along with the brand’s holiday drinks and beverages (yes, including the fan-fave Peppermint Mocha — I’m not drooling, you are). This year, Starbucks is releasing four adorable holiday red cups with some really cool and creative designs. Gary Jacobson, Starbucks’ creative director for this year’s designs, really popped off.
“We have always talked about the cups as little gifts, and we hope they feel like a festive present to our customers and store partners,” Jacobson said. “We are really focused on creating a joyful experience throughout the entire Starbucks experience — whether a customer is visiting our drive-thru or café.” And honestly? These new cup designs are the perfect way to ring in the holiday season.
Starbucks designers really wanted to use classic holiday symbols and motifs for this year’s cups, leading them to incorporate things like sparkles, ornaments, snowflakes, and ribbons to the cups’ festive designs. This year, Starbucks’ holiday red cups also pay homage to the 20th anniversary of the beloved Peppermint Mocha, with several of them featuring a fun flair of mint green. How cute!
The four cups — Gift-Wrapped Magic, Frosted Sparkle, Ornament Wonder, and Cozy Evergreen — can all be found at Starbucks locations across the country. I can’t wait to enjoy my first Peppermint Mocha of the season in one of these!
The history of Starbucks’ holiday red cups actually goes way back, and it’s a pretty sweet story. Starbucks first introduced its holiday cups back in 1997 — and fun fact, they actually weren’t even red. In a classic ‘90s fashion, the cups came in rich jewel-toned shades of magenta, sapphire, emerald, and purple. I can totally just imagine Monica from Friends walking through New York City with one of those OG holiday cups in her hand.
And honestly, Starbucks had no idea of what was to come with the hype surrounding the brand’s holiday cups. Sandy Nelson, the Starbucks designer who created those first holiday cups, recalled the first time she saw customers carrying cups with her designs in Anchorage, Alaska. “I thought, wow, this is big,” Nelson said. “But I had no idea what was ahead.”
This year, Starbucks is celebrating 25 years of Starbucks holiday red cups — and to acknowledge that, the brand really wanted to make this year’s cups feel like a gift, just like Nelson did back in 1997.
Which cup is your fave? Personally, I can’t pick — they’re all a work of art!