Starbucks Florida mug: Discovery Series

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

Starbucks Discovery Series Florida mug with a flamingo, a slice of pie, a race car and a space shuttle around the word FLORIDA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Florida Discovery Series mug puts FLORIDA in yellow on a dark green circle, ringed by a flamingo, key lime pie, two stock cars, a space shuttle on its boosters and a beach. The back shows a manatee and the Historic Capitol in Tallahassee with the Capitol tower behind it.

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

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Seven in the morning on Pad 39A

At seven in the morning on April 12, 1981, Columbia left Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, exactly twenty years after Yuri Gagarin's flight ^[1]. It was the space shuttle's first flight, with John Young and Bob Crippen aboard. The ride was two minutes of noise and shaking, which Crippen later called one of the most exciting things in his life ^[2]. What neither man knew was that the shock wave from the boosters' ignition had hit the tail with about five times the force engineers predicted, bending the body flap ^[3]. In orbit, a classified spy satellite reportedly photographed Columbia to check its heat-shield tiles ^[4]. They came home two days, six hours and twenty minutes after liftoff; sixteen tiles had been lost and 148 damaged ^[5]. On the Florida mug (5), a shuttle rises between its two boosters on yellow and magenta flames.

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

What's on the mug

1
FLORIDA lettering
FLORIDA is printed in yellow capitals across a large dark green circle in the middle of the front.
2
Flamingo
A flamingo with a magenta neck and body, a pale yellow head and a dark-tipped bill bends its neck over the green circle, standing on thin yellow legs. A large pale yellow shape with jagged darker yellow patches sits on its back; what it is meant to be is unclear from the photo. The mug doesn't name it.
3
Slice of key lime pie
A wedge of pie on a yellow plate has a green top layer, a pale yellow body, a curl of whipped cream and a green citrus slice on top. Key lime pie is Florida's official state pie by statute, and the slice with a lime wheel and cream fits it. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
4
Two stock cars at a chequered flag
Two stock cars race past a chequered flag at the upper right: a magenta-and-yellow car numbered 27 in front and a yellow-and-magenta car numbered 30 behind it. They are probably a nod to stock-car racing at Daytona International Speedway, home of the Daytona 500, but the drawing shows no track or sign. The mug doesn't name it.^[10]
5
Space Shuttle at launch
A space shuttle with a yellow orbiter stands upright against a magenta external tank between two green boosters, with yellow and magenta flames below. The orbiter, tank and twin boosters are the Space Shuttle stack, which flew from Kennedy Space Center in Florida; which orbiter is meant cannot be told. The mug doesn't name it.^[1]
6
Angler with a fish on the line
A person in a green cap, green shirt and magenta trousers holds a bent fishing rod, and a dark green fish with white spots and yellow fins leaps on the line above. The species of the fish cannot be told from the drawing. The mug doesn't name it.
7
Beach with palm trees and umbrellas
A pale yellow beach at the lower left carries small palm trees, with a larger palm at the lower left of the green circle, striped beach umbrellas and white star shapes, edged by a strip of green. The mug doesn't name the beach.
8
STARBUCKS wordmark Back view
The STARBUCKS wordmark runs vertically in black beside the handle on this side.
9
Manatee Back view
A green manatee with yellow spots, two flippers and a rounded paddle tail swims upward with its head toward the yellow flowers. The manatee is Florida's state marine mammal. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]
10
Florida Historic Capitol and the Capitol tower Back view
A pale yellow building with a columned portico, a pediment, a small dome with a cupola and rows of windows topped with pink-and-white marks stands in front of a tall yellow tower with vertical bands. This matches the Historic Capitol in Tallahassee, whose dome and red and white striped awnings the museum describes, with the modern Capitol tower rising behind it. The mug doesn't name it.^[8]^[9]
11
Yellow star-shaped flowers Back view
Two yellow flowers with pointed petals and speckled centres hang one above the other at the left of the back, next to a small pink-and-white stick. A small yellow-and-green object below them is too small to read in the photo. The mug doesn't name them.
12
Pink classic car Back view
A pink-and-red car with chrome trim and a whitewall tyre sits at the right edge of the back photo, partly cut off by the curve of the mug. The mug doesn't name it.
13
Palm tree Back view
A tall palm tree with green and yellow fronds rises behind the Capitol at the right edge of the back. The mug doesn't name it.
14
Two dumbbells
Two magenta dumbbells with pale yellow bars lie on the lower edge of the green circle, between the beach and the space shuttle. The mug doesn't say what they stand for.

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 bright yellow, which shows at the rim in the back photo.
The flamingo, the pie and the space shuttle are on the front; the manatee, the tall tower and the pink car are on the back.

Before you buy

Florida also appears as two Been There mugs, an Icon and a You Are Here mug, so check the series name. The inside is bright yellow, visible in the back photo, and the area behind the handle is out of view in both.