Starbucks New Mexico mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-14 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series New Mexico mug with adobe buildings, a roadrunner and red rocks around the words NEW MEXICO — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The New Mexico Discovery mug shows the state bird, the roadrunner, and the state flower, the yucca, with a multi-storey adobe pueblo, a cave with stalactites and caving gear, white dunes, a red rock tower and a flying saucer in the sky.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: New Mexico, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
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 cowboy who followed smoke into a New Mexico cave

A sixteen-year-old cowboy was rounding up cattle one evening when he spotted what looked like smoke, according to the National Park Service. He rode toward it. Jim White realized he was watching bats ^[1]. He told nobody, because the other cowboys would mock him ^[1]. After several days he went back alone with some wire and pieces of wood, and built a ladder anchored at the cave mouth ^[1]. Sixty feet later he landed on the cave floor ^[1]. In the book of his early explorations, he laid broken stalactites on the rocks behind him, ends pointing toward the way out ^[2]. Deep inside, the oil in his lantern ran out and the flame died ^[2]. He named the first drip pool Devil's Spring. As he grew easier underground his names turned plainer: the Big Room, the Left Hand Tunnel ^[1]. The cave scene on the New Mexico mug (6) may be one like his.

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

What's on the mug

1
NEW MEXICO lettering
NEW MEXICO in light blue capitals across the middle of the mug. MEXICO sits over a dark green circle; NEW sits on the white glaze to its left.
2
Multi-storey adobe pueblo
Flat-roofed adobe blocks in yellow, orange and red step up in several storeys along the top of the circle, with small square windows and a wooden ladder leaning against the left side. Rows of dark dots below the rooflines look like the ends of roof beams, and small white spiky plants are painted at the foot of the red and orange walls. The stacked storeys and ladder resemble a Pueblo village such as Taos Pueblo, but several pueblos share this form. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]
3
Roadrunner (New Mexico state bird)
A roadrunner in red, orange and yellow runs across the lower circle with its blue crest up and its long tail raised, kicking up dust. The roadrunner is New Mexico's official state bird.^[3]
4
Sun, clouds and red mountain ridge
A round patch of blue sky holds an orange sun ringed with yellow and teal curved strokes, two white clouds and a jagged dark red mountain ridge streaked with orange above the white ground. The ridge is not drawn closely enough to name a range.
5
Red rock tower
A stack of red and maroon rock with blue and yellow patches stands beside the handle, with the roadrunner's speed lines running into it. It could be one of many sandstone formations in the state; the drawing does not point to one. The tall plant behind it is the yucca (9).
6
Cave with stalactites and caving gear, like Carlsbad Caverns
A dark red cave arch hung with pale blue icicle-shaped drips frames cream and golden columns, and an orange helmet with a headlamp and a coil of blue rope lie in front. The formations look like the stalactites and columns of the cave at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, but the drawing is generic enough to be any cave. The mug doesn't name it.^[1]^[6]
7
Flying saucer (possibly a nod to Roswell)
A small red disc with a domed top flies across the blue sky to the left of the sun. A flying saucer over New Mexico most likely points to Roswell and the 1947 incident, but nothing on the mug says so.^[8]
8
White dunes, like White Sands
Below the mountain ridge, white rolling ground marked with blue lines and dots runs down toward the green circle. White dunes beside a yucca look like White Sands National Park, the gypsum dunefield in southern New Mexico. The mug doesn't name it.^[4]^[5]
9
Yucca in bloom (New Mexico state flower)
A tall stalk of cream and yellow blossoms rises above a fan of spiky red, blue and orange leaves behind the red rock tower. The tall flower stalk over a rosette of sword-shaped leaves matches a yucca, and the yucca flower is New Mexico's official state flower. The species is not shown closely enough to tell.^[3]^[5]
10
Partly hidden yellow shape at the left edge
A yellow and orange shape with a curved blue band sits at the far left, just before NEW, and runs out of view around the curve of the mug. Too little of it shows in this photo to say what it is.

The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is dark red, which shows at the rim in the photo.
The adobe buildings along the top and the roadrunner in the middle are on the same face, with the red rock stack and tall plant beside the handle.

Before you buy

The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. The inside is dark red, which shows at the rim. New Mexico also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series, so check the series name on the base.