Starbucks Arizona mug: Discovery Series

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

Starbucks Discovery Series Arizona mug with a lizard, hot air balloons, a scorpion and a canyon around the word ARIZONA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Arizona mug shows a Gila monster, a ringtail (Arizona's state mammal), a Grand Canyon-like canyon, hot air balloons, a scorpion, a roadrunner, a golfer, an arched bridge, chile peppers and cacti.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Arizona, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
SKU: Not confirmed

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The Bronx doctor who found a diabetes drug in lizard venom

In the late 1980s, an endocrinologist at a Veterans Administration medical center in the Bronx read studies by gastroenterologists at the National Institutes of Health, according to the University at Buffalo ^[1]. They described what snake and lizard venoms do to the pancreas. John Eng was developing tests to identify unknown hormones ^[2]. In 1992 he discovered a new compound in Gila monster venom and named it exendin-4 ^[3]. The paper appeared that year in the Journal of Biological Chemistry ^[4]. Then he had to get anyone to notice. He submitted a poster at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting, and a small biotechnology company, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, took an interest ^[3]. A synthetic version, exenatide, was approved by the FDA in 2005 ^[5]. The orange beaded lizard curled around the top of the Arizona mug (2) may be a Gila monster.

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

What's on the mug

1
Lettering
ARIZONA in red-orange capitals over a dark green circle. The lizard curls over the top of the circle and the canyon sits along its base.
2
Gila monster
A heavy-bodied lizard, orange with dark teal markings and a green-teal head and legs, curls around the top left of the green circle, with a long banded tail hanging down its left edge. The beaded skin, banded tail and thick body match a Gila monster; the National Park Service says its upper surface is covered with bead-like scales. The real animal's snout is solid black, so the green head is the artist's colouring. The mug doesn't name it.^[8]
3
Hot air balloons
Two hot air balloons float at the upper right: a yellow one with teal zigzag bands and a taller one striped in red, teal and gold. Each hangs a small basket. The mug doesn't say where they fly.
4
Scorpion
An orange scorpion with pale legs and red-tipped claws raises its tail on the rim of the canyon, just below the balloons. The mug doesn't name a species.
5
Canyon (looks like the Grand Canyon)
A flat-topped canyon wall in layered green and yellow, with an orange rock butte at the left and a red cap along the rim, fills the lower middle. It looks like the Grand Canyon, whose walls the National Park Service says are formed by nearly 40 identified rock layers, but the drawing is stylised and could stand for any Arizona canyon. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]
6
Stack of golden discs
A stack of golden round discs with crease marks sits at the lower left, below the lizard. They look like tortillas or flatbread, but nothing on the mug says so.
7
Roadrunner (looks like a greater roadrunner) Back view
A bird with a crested head, a long red-orange tail and a patterned body runs across the back, with speed lines behind it. It looks like a greater roadrunner. It is not Arizona's state bird, which the Pima County Library list gives as the cactus wren. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
8
Golfer Back view
A golfer in yellow trousers and a long-sleeved dark green dotted top finishes a swing on a teal rock. An orange dotted ball flies off to the right, onto the Side view. The mug doesn't name a course or tournament.
9
Arched bridge over red water Back view
A bridge with several low arches and a patterned railing crosses red water below the roadrunner. The drawing is too general to tie to a particular bridge, and the mug doesn't name it.
10
Prickly pear (looks like a prickly pear) Back view
A dark teal cactus made of rounded pads, with small yellow blooms or fruit along the top, sits at the base of the back view. The flat pads look like a prickly pear. The mug doesn't name it.
11
Ringtail Side view
A dark teal animal with pale green rings around its eyes, a pointed face and a long tail banded in green and teal crouches on red rock. The face and banded tail match a ringtail, which the Pima County Library list gives as Arizona's state mammal. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
12
Dome-shaped rock with dark opening Side view
A teal dome with a dark, rounded opening and a pale green rim rises over a bed of yellow ground and scattered orange and teal stones, above the ringtail. It could be a cave mouth or a rock formation; the drawing doesn't say which.
13
Cactus with yellow flowers Side view
A tall plant with a red-brown ribbed trunk and clusters of yellow flowers runs up the right edge of this side and continues onto the left edge of the Front view, where more yellow flowers show beside the lizard. The mug doesn't name the plant.
14
Chile peppers Back view
Three peppers hang at the left of the back view: a red one, a dark teal one and a pale green one. They are plainly chile peppers; the mug doesn't say which kind.
15
Small yellow dotted discs Back view
A short trail of small yellow circles with dots on them runs from the peppers toward the prickly pear on the back view. They look like the same kind of dotted ball the golfer hits, but nothing on the mug says what they are.
16
Cord with tips and a round slide (looks like a bolo tie) Side view
A braided yellow cord with two dark metal tips loops down to a round dark teal slide, to the right of the ringtail. It looks like a bolo tie, which the Pima County Library list gives as Arizona's state neckwear (spelled bola tie there). The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
17
Red pool and trees
A pool of red water with white ripples sits in a teal basin at the bottom of the canyon scene, with small round trees in red, yellow and green beside it. It uses the same red water as under the bridge on the back. The mug doesn't name a river or lake.

Three photos show the front, the side opposite the handle and the back. Only the strip of the mug behind the handle is out of view.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is bright yellow-orange, which shows in the back photo.
Arizona is also a Been There Series mug, in 2019 and 2021 editions on our checklists; this page covers the Discovery design with the lizard, the balloons and the canyon.

Before you buy

The inside of this Discovery Series mug is bright yellow-orange, as the back photo shows. Arizona also appears in the Been There Series, in 2019 and 2021 editions, so look for the lizard, the balloons and the canyon to tell this design apart.