Starbucks Maui mug: Discovery Series
The Maui mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the island name in yellow over a dark green circle, with a surfer on a big wave, a pineapple, a seal, a waterfall and boats in a bay.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Maui, Hawaii, USA
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The Maui surf spot that was "just another spot"
In 1992, Buzzy Kerbox, Laird Hamilton and Darrick Doerner took Kerbox's Zodiac out and tried to tow themselves onto waves too far out to paddle. According to Kerbox, those first tow-in sessions were off Oahu's North Shore, at the outer reefs called Phantoms and Backyards [1]. Many people assume the method was born at Peʻahi, the Maui break known as Jaws, and Kerbox wrote his memoir partly to correct that [1]. The two men did reach Maui soon after, having heard that a few adventurous windsurfers were sailing large waves down the coast from Hoʻokipa [2]. The first day, in 1993, was 15 feet, "nothing huge." "At first, it was just another spot for us," Kerbox recalled [2]. By 2002 the crowds had arrived. The Maui Pineapple Co., which farms the land above the break, put up a gate at a key access point before the big-wave season. "Hundreds of cars go in," its plantation manager Wesley Nohara said, "and they drive right through our fields" [2]. The surfer on the Maui mug (2) may be riding Peʻahi, with the pineapple fields just inland.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1Lettering
MAUI in yellow capitals over a dark green circle.
- 2Surfer on a wave
A surfer in blue trunks rides a yellow board down a tall blue-and-white wave at the left.
- 3Pineapple
A large pineapple with a blue-green crown fills the centre of the lower half, with a cut yellow slice beside it.
- 4Seal
A pale blue seal with green markings stretches across the top of the design.
- 5Coconuts
A cracked coconut half and a coconut with a straw sit at the top left.
- 6Waterfall and cliffs
A white waterfall drops from orange rock cliffs among yellow and green leaves at the right of the circle.
- 7Boats in a bay
Small boats float on blue water beside an orange headland at the lower right.
- 8Leafy tree
A tree with orange branches and green leaves rises at the far left.
- 9Hiker in tall grass Side view
A figure in a striped top stands among tall yellow-green reeds at the left of this view.
- 10Butterflyfish Side view
A fish with orange and black bands swims above a pale blue pool.
- 11Orange coral tree Side view
A branching orange shape with navy leaves rises above the water.
- 12Curling wave Side view
A blue wave with white lines curls at the right edge.
- 13Food truck Back view
A navy food truck with a striped awning has a figure on its roof.
- 14Winding road Back view
A road curves through a yellow and blue field at the left.
- 15Sun over a dark hill Back view
An orange sunburst rises above a navy and orange hillside.
- 16Blue flowers Back view
Large blue flowers with green leaves sit at the right of the truck.
The photo shows one side of the mug, held in a hand. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.
Collector notes
- The scene wraps around the mug: the wave and surfer sit at the left, the pineapple in the middle and the waterfall at the right, so a close-up that crops a side loses one of them.
- Discovery Series also has Hawaii, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu, Kauai and Big Island mugs on our checklists; this one is lettered MAUI.
Before you buy
The photo shows one side of the mug, held in a hand, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. The scene wraps around, with the wave at the left, the pineapple in the middle and the waterfall at the right, so a close-up that crops a side loses one of them. The page lists 14 fl oz and is the Discovery Series mug lettered MAUI.
