Starbucks Alberta mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-14 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Alberta mug with purple flowers, a blue bison, beehive boxes and a stepped waterfall around the word ALBERTA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Alberta Discovery Series mug: ALBERTA over a green circle with purple flowers, a bison, beehives and stargazers, then a theropod skeleton, a train, a canola field, wheat, a great horned owl and the Alberta Legislature Building.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Alberta, Canada
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozstandard mug size
SKU: Not confirmed

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The geologist who found a dinosaur skull near Drumheller

On 12 August 1884, according to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, found the 70-million-year-old skull of a carnivorous dinosaur near present-day Drumheller ^[3]. It was the first meat-eating dinosaur ever found in Canada ^[4]. At first it was believed to belong to a theropod that already had a name, Laelaps incrassatus ^[4]. Only when Tyrannosaurus rex was described in 1905 was Tyrrell's specimen recognized as a species of its own ^[4]. It was named Albertosaurus, after the province of Alberta, which had been formally established that same year ^[4]. The museum that now stands near Drumheller opened on 25 September 1985 and was named for the geologist, and "royal" was added in 1990 ^[3]. The skeleton rearing up on the Alberta mug (7) is a theropod, the same group of two-legged meat-eaters ^[4].

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
ALBERTA lettering
ALBERTA in yellow-orange capitals over a dark green circle.
2
Purple flowers, possibly wild roses
A cluster of dark purple flowers with orange centres and blue leaves arches over the top of the green circle, with bees flying around them. Alberta's provincial flower is the wild rose, adopted in 1930, and these may be stylised wild roses. The mug doesn't name the flower.^[1]
3
Bison
A blue bison with a dotted coat and small horns stands at the upper right of the circle, with dark fir trees behind it and small stars scattered below. It may stand for Alberta's bison herds, such as those at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton. The mug doesn't name a place.^[9]
4
Beekeeper and hives
Stacked yellow-and-blue beehive boxes stand at the left, while a beekeeper in blue lifts out a yellow honeycomb frame above them, with bees flying around. Alberta keeps more honeybee colonies than any other province, almost 40 per cent of Canada's total.^[7]
5
Stepped waterfall
Yellow rock terraces with blue water spilling over them fill the lower right of the front, with dark trees along the top edge. The mug doesn't say which waterfall or canyon this is.
6
Fir trees
Two blue fir trees stand at the lower left of the green circle, beside the hive boxes.
7
Theropod dinosaur skeleton Side view
A yellow-and-blue skeleton of a two-legged dinosaur with a large skull, small arms and a long tail rears up above the hills. It may refer to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, which opened in 1985 and has more than thirty mounted dinosaur skeletons. The mug doesn't name the dinosaur or the museum.^[2]
8
Steak on a plate Side view
A blue plate holds a dark blue cut of meat with a yellow edge, with a fork and a knife above it. It looks like a steak; nearly half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. The plate appears again at the far right of the back photo.^[6]
9
Passenger train Side view
A blue locomotive with a red-and-yellow front pulls a line of blue cars with yellow bands along a curving track below the mountains. It may be a sightseeing train such as the Rocky Mountaineer, which runs to Banff and Jasper in Alberta, but the drawing carries no name.^[8]
10
Coffee cup in the mountains Side view
A white takeaway cup with a green circle stands among the yellow mountains above the lake.
11
Beekeeper Side view
The beekeeper from the front (4) appears again at the right edge, in blue overalls and a wide-brimmed hat with a mesh veil; the curve of the mug cuts the figure off. Alberta is Canada's biggest honey province by number of colonies.^[7]
12
Round bales Side view
Two round golden shapes with spiral lines sit at the left; each looks like a round hay bale. The same pair appears again on the back, beside the domed building.
13
Wheat Back view
Four golden ears of wheat with long whiskers lean across the left of the scene on blue stalks. Wheat and canola are Alberta's main farm crops.^[6]
14
Great horned owl Back view
A blue owl with orange eyes and ear tufts perches on top of a brown building. The ear tufts match the great horned owl, which became Alberta's provincial bird in 1977 by a province-wide children's vote.^[1]
15
Alberta Legislature Building Back view
A blue building with a columned front and a gold-coloured dome topped by a small lantern rises beside the owl; its dome shows again at the start of the side photo. The central dome over a columned portico matches the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, built between 1907 and 1913. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]
16
Cars on a mountain road Back view
A small red car and a smaller dark car drive along a yellow road at the foot of blue mountains, with blue fir trees around them. The mug doesn't name the road.
17
STARBUCKS wordmark Back view
The vertical STARBUCKS wordmark sits beside the handle on this side.
18
Stargazers with a telescope
Two small figures stand on top of the waterfall terraces, one looking through a telescope at a scatter of small stars. They may be a nod to stargazing in Alberta's dark-sky preserves, such as Jasper National Park. The mug doesn't name a place.^[10]
19
Yellow crop field, possibly canola Side view
A field of small yellow flower heads on blue stems slopes down below the train. It looks like canola in flower, one of Alberta's main crops, though it could be another grain.^[6]
20
Barn and silo Side view
A small red-and-blue barn with a tall round silo beside it stands at the top of the yellow field.
21
Mountain lake Side view
A dark blue lake with white wave marks lies below blue and maroon mountains dotted with white trees, with yellow peaks behind. The mug doesn't name the lake.
22
Brown building with rows of windows Side view
A brown block with rows of small yellow windows stands to the right of the domed building; a similar block sits under the owl on the back. The mug doesn't say what these buildings are.

The area right behind the handle is hidden in all three photos.

Collector notes

Alberta is also in the Been There Series on our checklist. This page is about the Discovery design with the blue bison and the dinosaur skeleton.
The inside of this mug is a bright royal blue, which shows clearly in the side and back photos.
The box in the side and back photos reads "Discovery Series" in English, with the French series name printed beside it.

Before you buy

The three photos show the front, one side and the back; the area behind the handle is out of view. The inside of this mug is a bright royal blue. Alberta is also in the Been There Series, so check the box: this one reads "Discovery Series" in English, with the French name printed beside it.

Other Alberta mugs

Different series, different mugs. Check the series name before you buy.

Been There · Alberta

Hidden Starbucks cup

Starbucks says a to-go cup is hidden in every Discovery Series design. On the side of the mug, a white to-go cup with a green dot sits near the coffee cup in the mountains. Where the hidden cup is on other mugs