Starbucks Kauai mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-10-15 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Kauai mug with red KAUAI lettering, a green rooster with two chicks, a mountain and a red car — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Kauai mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series puts KAUAI in red over a dark green circle, with a green rooster and chicks, a mountain with red flowers and a red car. A seal, waterfall and sailboat wrap the side, and a goose and a lake with a canoe sit on the back.

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

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The year Kauai residents trapped 1,500 chickens

In 2006, residents of Kauai trapped 1,500 chickens and handed them to the island's humane society, because they wanted the birds out of their neighborhoods ^[1]. The chickens themselves were not new: Polynesian settlers brought red junglefowl, the wild form of the chicken, to Kauai around AD 1200 ^[2]. What changed was the weather. According to a genetics paper, during hurricanes Iwa in 1982 and Iniki in 1992 almost all the island's domestic chickens escaped into the wild ^[3]. Local folk wisdom, as the Honolulu Advertiser put it, says Iniki blew apart fighting-chicken pens and let the birds out ^[4]. When researchers tested 23 feral birds, 20 belonged to a lineage that most likely indicates a domestic origin ^[5]. The green rooster on the Kauai mug (2) may be one of their descendants.

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

What's on the mug

1
KAUAI lettering
KAUAI in red capitals over a dark green circle.
2
Green rooster
A green rooster with dark wing feathers stands on the left of the lettering.
3
Two chicks
Two small green chicks stand side by side above the word.
4
Mountain with red flowers
A green mountain with a dark peak and red flowers rises to the right of the lettering.
5
Red car
A small red car drives along the bottom beneath the mountain.
6
Waterfall and pool
Blue-leaved trees, a small waterfall and a blue pool fill the lower left.
7
Hiker
A figure in a green cap and dark clothing stands beside the handle.
8
Green seal Side view
A green seal with blue flippers arches across the top of the side face.
9
Water spout Side view
A plume of water rises from black rocks on the side face.
10
Sailboat Side view
A tall white sail and a row of small figures sit at the left edge of the side face.
11
Waterfall and trees Side view
Blue-leaved trees surround a waterfall that falls into a blue pool.
12
Island Side view
A small green island with jagged peaks sits in blue water at the top of the side face.
13
Bowl with chopsticks Side view
A round bowl with swirled noodles and a pair of chopsticks sits at the right of the side face, beside the rooster's wing.
14
Goose Back view
A goose with a dark head and green-and-blue wings stands at the left of the back face.
15
Lake with canoe Back view
A blue lake with a canoe and green banks spreads below the goose.
16
Red mountain Back view
A dark red mountain with green ridges rises behind a small vehicle with a driver.

The three photos together cover most of the outside of the mug. The area behind the handle is out of view.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is light blue, visible in the back photo, so a listing that only shows the front will not show it.
The rooster, chicks and mountain face the front, the seal and waterfall run round the side, and the goose and lake are on the back, so a seller photo taken only from the front will miss most of the scene.

Before you buy

The inside of this mug is light blue, which a front-only photo will not show. The rooster, chicks and mountain face the front, the seal and waterfall run round the side, and the goose and lake are on the back, so a listing needs more than one photo to show the scene.