Starbucks Chile mug: Discovery Series

What's on the mug

1. 1
   CHILE lettering

   CHILE is printed in pale mint capitals on a dark green circle, the only words in the design.

2. 2
   Andean condor

   A large bird with dark, finger-tipped wings spread wide flies across the top of the green circle, its body patterned in red and teal. The spread primary feathers at the wing tips and the white collar at the base of the neck are marks of the Andean condor, and the condor is one of the two animals that hold up Chile's coat of arms. The mug doesn't name it.^[3][4]

3. 3
   Glass of red wine and grapes

   A glass of red wine stands at the right of the lettering, with a bunch of purple and red grapes on a vine leaf above it.

4. 4
   Wine bottle pouring

   A red wine bottle with a teal label tips over the glass at the top right, a trickle of wine falling into it.

5. 5
   Hiker

   A figure in teal clothes with a red backpack and cap walks across a red-and-purple slope below the lettering, toward the jagged peaks (17).

6. 6
   Moai (teal)

   A tall teal stone head flecked with gold, with a long face, heavy brow and long nose stands at the right of the wine glass. The oversized head and heavy brow are the marks of the moai, the stone statues of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which belongs to Chile. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]

7. 7
   Moai (red)

   A bigger red stone head with the same long face, heavy brow and speckled surface fills the area beside the handle. It is a second moai, drawn larger than the teal one (6). The mug doesn't name it.^[5]

8. 8
   Copihue flowers

   Long lilac-pink bell-shaped flowers with red tips hang from a red stem with pointed leaves at the left edge of the front. The hanging bells match the copihue (Chilean bellflower), Chile's national flower. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]

9. 9
   Huaso on a teal horse Side view

   A rider in a red flat-brimmed hat and a dark red poncho sits on a spotted teal horse with a red bridle. The wide flat hat and poncho are the dress of the huaso, Chile's horseman; the real chupalla is straw, the drawing colours it red. The mug doesn't name him.^[7]

10. 10
    Red ridged mountains Side view

    Rows of red ridges stand over a purple band of water, with a round red sun behind them. The same ridges show at the right edge of the Back photo. Which range they stand for is not clear from the drawing.

11. 11
    Fruit that looks like a cherimoya Side view

    A round red fruit covered in scale-like cells sits at the lower left, and a cut fruit beside it shows white flesh with teal veins and red-brown bean-shaped seeds. The scaly skin and dark seeds look like a cherimoya (chirimoya), grown in Chile, though the drawing colours the skin red rather than green. The mug doesn't name it.^[13]

12. 12
    Araucaria tree Side view

    A tall, straight striped trunk carries a lopsided, wedge-shaped crown of dark branches at the right edge of this side. That bare trunk and crown is the shape of a mature Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle tree), Chile's national tree. The mug doesn't name it.^[8]

13. 13
    Penguin Back view

    A purple penguin with a teal back, a red chest and a long pointed beak stands at the left of this side, looking up at the domes. The drawing does not show enough to tell the species.

14. 14
    Domes that may be observatories Back view

    Three teal domes with fine vertical ribs sit under the starry sky (15). Domes under a night sky may stand for the telescope observatories of northern Chile's Atacama Desert, such as La Silla or Cerro Tololo, but the drawing does not match any one site. The mug doesn't name them.^[14]

15. 15
    Night sky Back view

    A dark red sky above the domes is dotted with white stars and a pink spotted moon.

16. 16
    Adult and child on a platform Back view

    A small dark adult and a child stand at the edge of a dark red platform with a teal-and-purple beaded rim, the adult pointing up toward the sky. Green steam rises from the platform beside them (20), and a second pair of figures stands to the right by the red ridges; that pair also shows at the left edge of the Side photo.

17. 17
    Peaks that look like Torres del Paine

    Jagged red rock spires with a band of white snow rise behind the hiker (5). Tall granite spires with a hiker below look like the Torres del Paine in Patagonia, but the drawing does not show the three towers clearly enough to be sure. The mug doesn't name them.^[9]

18. 18
    Stacked houses that may be palafitos

    Small pink, teal and lilac houses with pitched roofs are stacked at the top left, above a row of thin zigzag supports. The supports may be stilts, which would make these the palafitos of Chiloé; they could also be hillside houses. The house cut off at the right edge of the Side photo may be part of the same group. The mug doesn't name them.^[10]

19. 19
    Snow-capped volcano that may be Osorno Side view

    A small cone with a white snowy top rises over a teal lake below the horse. A snow-capped cone above a lake resembles the Osorno Volcano over Llanquihue Lake, but southern Chile has several such volcanoes. The mug doesn't name it.^[11]

20. 20
    Steam plumes that may be El Tatio geysers Back view

    Swirling green plumes rise from the platform with the figures (16) and drift up and across to the Side photo, above the red ridges. Steam rising from the ground with visitors watching may be the El Tatio geyser field in northern Chile. The mug doesn't name it.^[12]

The photos show the front, one side and the back by the handle, taken from a slight angle. The edges of each photo continue into the next, so only the strip under the handle is in no photo.

Collector notes

• The inside of this mug is coral red, matching the red mountains and fruit on the outside, so the colour carries across the whole design.
• Unlike the dark green circle on the front, the other two sides have no circle: the scenes run straight on the white body, so the rider and the penguin are on separate faces.

Other Chile mugs

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

About the Discovery Series

• Discovery Series vs Been There Series: the differences
• How to display and store a Starbucks mug collection
• Where the hidden cup is on each Discovery Series mug
• Starbucks Discovery Series mugs list