Normally I just stick to the regular long red Starbucks Christmas mugs but when I saw this for sale this year I just had to grab it.
It’s a good size (a LOT bigger than my Gingerbread Men mug) and has a hand painted candy cane stripe on the handle (itself a very different design than the regular mug) and a glossed dark red interior making it essentially tea, coffee and cocoa stain proof!
One of my best friends sent this to me all the way to Japan while she was living in London. Normally I don’t like mugs as gifts as I like to get them as a souvenir of my own personal travels but the fact that this mug was year exclusive and I would never get the chance to buy it myself, I really loved getting this as a Christmas gift!
The mug is a bit larger than the regular Starbucks mug and I really dig the glossy red interior which makes it cocoa and coffee stain proof. Having never been to London I love how they made the mug city specific as well as being Christmas themed with the double decker bus and the London Bridge in the background. The heavy snow is really great and the metallic golden paint really makes the snowflakes and other features pop.
This, I think, was my very first Starbucks mug. I bought it in my first year in Japan while working in Shin Koshigaya in Saitama in 2004.
I think I probably got it due to the fact that it had gingerbread men on it. I’m an absolute gingerbread nut at Christmas time and have been making them every year for the past 20 years or so.
It’s a bit smaller than the regular Starbucks mugs, possibly aimed at kids. I seem to remember Starbucks marketing towards kids around that time with children’s beverages and other smaller merchandise so that would seem about right. Honestly haven’t used it to drink out of but used it this year to hold pretzel sticks on the table while having friends over.
On the 3rd of November Starbucks in Japan revealed the 2011 Christmas merchandise which included this year’s Starbucks Christmas mug, several other mugs exclusive to this year, their Christmas Blend coffee beans, the new Barista Bear and heaps of other Christmas goodies.
Will be doing some individual posts in the upcoming weeks to focus on each new mug that I bought but this video should be a good sneak peak until then.
What catches your eye in the video? They tend to release more items every few weeks or so until Christmas. Can’t wait for their snow globe tree ornaments.
With the 2011 Starbucks Christmas mugs just around the corner I totally wasn’t expecting this when I walked into a Starbucks yesterday!
Turns out Starbucks is celebrating 15 years in Japan this year and as part of the celebration (or rather the only thing they’re doing to celebrate this milestone) they’ve released a mug and a series of tumblers.
Starbucks Japan 15 Years Anniversary / Birthday Mug
The entire mug (even the inside) is a creamy colour that’s quite unusual for a Starbucks mug. It features the new Starbucks logo on one side and a giant “15″ on the other which is textured with silhouettes of people carrying and drinking from coffee mugs.
There’s heaps of stars, some of which are metallic gold and an artistic rendition of a city’s skyline.
The mug definitely does a good job of creating the whole “birthday” vibe though I kind of wish they tried a bit more to include some Japanese aspects. Sure it mentions “Starbucks Japan” at the bottom of the mug on the inside (which I enjoyed) and there’s a family of dharma dolls which is cool but the skyline features none of Tokyo’s recognisable buildings such as Tokyo Tower or the new Tokyo Sky Tree.
Perhaps a future mug like the 2012 Japan mug is planned to use these buildings, especially since the Tokyo Sky Tree is due to open next year. Hmmm… what do you think?
25Cafes.com is a cool new project I've started working on where I travel around the world and write reviews on all the best, trendiest and coolest cafes I find!
Right now I'm starting with cafes in Tokyo, Japan (where I live) but will soon expand as I travel (hoping to do some cities in China and Australia soon!)
Please check it out and don't forget to comment and share it with other people who love to travel, enjoy coffee and finding new places!
~ Brad
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Having never been to London I love how they made the mug city specific as well as being Christmas themed with the double decker bus and the London Bridge in the background. The heavy snow is really great and the metallic golden paint really makes the snowflakes and other features pop. 
