Starbucks California mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-15 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series California mug with orange poppies, a pink whale, redwoods and an angler around the word CALIFORNIA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The California mug shows golden poppies, an angler on a fishing boat, a pink whale, redwood-like trees and Yosemite-like cliffs on the front; a Bay Bridge-like bridge, wine, sailboats and a bear on the back.

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

Shop on Amazon See eBay listings

Sponsored links: we earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Browse all Discovery Series mugs on eBay →

The captain who wrote the gray whale's obituary

In December 1857, Charles Scammon sailed the brig Boston into a lagoon on the Baja California coast, where gray whales came to breed ^[8]. He caught twenty ^[9]. The next season he took forty-seven cows and 1,700 barrels of oil ^[10]. The lagoon still carries his name. In 1874 he published a book on the sea mammals of the Pacific coast, and in it he wrote that the bays and lagoons where gray whales gathered "are already nearly deserted," and that it might be asked whether the species would "be numbered among the extinct species of the Pacific" ^[11]. It was not. According to NOAA, the eastern population recovered and was delisted in 1994 ^[12]. By its count the whales numbered 20,500 in 2019 and 14,526 in 2023 ^[13]. The pink whale rising on the California mug (4) is the artist's colour, but its pale patches may be a gray whale's.

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

What's on the mug

1
CALIFORNIA lettering
CALIFORNIA in teal capitals over a dark green circle. The state name is the only word on the front.
2
California golden poppies
Orange poppies with red markings sit on top of the green circle, with cup-shaped buds on a ferny red stem whose leaves have pale blue tips. This matches the California golden poppy, the state's flower, which the State Capitol Museum describes as bright orange with fern-like leaves. The mug doesn't name it.^[1]
3
Angler fishing from a boat
A teal-skinned figure in a straw hat, red beard, a sleeveless striped shirt and patterned shorts holds a bent rod at the left and stands on the deck of the boat in element 13. Nothing in the drawing says where or what he is fishing for.
4
Pink whale, possibly a gray whale
A pink whale with white speckles and patches, a pectoral fin and white stripes under its chin rises at the lower left. The pale mottled patches and lack of a dorsal fin resemble a California gray whale, the state marine mammal, though the pink colour is the artist's. The mug doesn't name it.^[3]
5
Tall trees that look like redwoods
Dark red trees with tall bare trunks and clumps of branches near the top stand at the right, beside the handle. They look like redwoods, a California state tree, but the drawing is too simple to tell a coast redwood from a giant sequoia. The mug doesn't name them.^[4]
6
Valley cliffs that may be Yosemite Valley
Red-orange granite cliffs with white vertical streaks, a rounded dome-like shape at the right, a yellow slope with pines and a teal river or lake in front. The scene may be Yosemite Valley, which the National Park Service lists with El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome as the view from Tunnel View, but no single feature is clear enough to name. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]
7
Binoculars
A pair of red binoculars on a yellow cord hangs at the lower left, near the whale.
8
STARBUCKS wordmark Back view
The vertical STARBUCKS wordmark in dark letters runs beside the handle on this side.
9
Suspension bridge that may be the Bay Bridge Back view
A suspension bridge with pale yellow cables and deck and one tall dark red tower with white dots crosses blue water. At its left end the road curves out of a tunnel mouth in a red-brown hill and runs on piers. The tunnel-and-hill detail looks like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, whose bridge enters a tunnel through Yerba Buena Island, and the single tower and curving approach fit the newer eastern span, but the real bridge is painted industrial grey and the tower here is red, so the artist may have meant San Francisco's other famous bridge. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]^[7]
10
Sailboat with a star Back view
A sailboat with a blue-and-white striped sail marked with a white star sits at the left of the back, beside the wine glass in element 14.
11
Cluster of red grapes Back view
A bunch of dark red grapes with golden leaves lies below the sailboat.
12
Bear that looks like the California grizzly Back view
A red-orange bear with patterned fur walks toward the right edge, with a yellow sun above it. The bear on California's state flag and seal is a grizzly, the State Animal, so this bear probably refers to it, but the drawing has no flag or other label. The mug doesn't name it.^[2]
13
Fishing boat
A boat with a yellow cabin, a raised open upper deck and a red-and-white striped hull sits at the left edge of the front, where the angler stands. It is cut off by the edge of the photo.
14
Glass of red wine Back view
A stemmed glass of red wine stands on the deck at the left of the sailboat on the back.
15
Small sailboats Back view
A boat with yellow sails sits on the water below the bridge, and a smaller boat with a dark sail and a red hull is nearer the bridge tower.
16
Sun and pink cloud Back view
A yellow sun with long rays and an orange centre sits above the bear, beside a pink cloud near the right edge of the back.
17
Grey-purple structure at the edge Back view
A narrow grey-purple structure rises behind the pink cloud at the right edge of the back. Most of it wraps onto the side opposite the handle that no photo shows, so it can't be identified.
18
Orange round shape at the edge
A half-seen orange circle with a brown curved line sits at the far left of the front, left of the angler. It continues onto the side opposite the handle that no photo shows, so it can't be identified.
19
Pale shape that may be a surfboard Back view
A pale, pointed shape with red and tan markings sits at the right edge of the back, beside the bear. It may be a surfboard, but it is cut off by the edge of the photo.

The two photos show the front and the back. The area behind the handle is out of view in both.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is red-orange, which shows at the rim in the back photo.
The poppies, the whale and the redwoods are on the front; the bridge, the sailboat, the grapes and the bear are on the back.
The side opposite the handle is in no photo; the structure at the back's right edge and the orange circle at the front's left edge continue there.

Before you buy

The poppies, the whale and the redwood-like trees are on the front; the bridge, the bear and the wine glass are on the back, and the side opposite the handle is in no photo. The inside is red-orange. Been There, Icon and You Are Here mugs also carry California, so check the series name before you buy.