Starbucks Mississippi mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-10-08 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Mississippi mug with a blue crab, a butterfly, a riverboat and a slice of pie around the word MISSISSIPPI — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Mississippi mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the state name in orange over a dark green circle, with a blue crab, a butterfly, a pale blue flower, a riverboat, a truss bridge, a slice of pie and a glass of iced tea.

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

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The dinner party where the boat started to move

Nicholas Roosevelt invited the doubters of Louisville to dine aboard his new steamboat, the New Orleans ^[1]. Mid-feast the cabin began to rumble and move, and the guests ran for the deck, sure the boat had slipped her anchor and was drifting toward the Falls of the Ohio ^[1]. Roosevelt's brother-in-law J. H. B. Latrobe wrote sixty years later that it was arranged: the boat was steaming upriver ^[1]. Her real job lay farther south, as a packet between Natchez and New Orleans ^[2]. She waited weeks for the Ohio to rise, then crossed the Falls on 8 December ^[3]. About a week later the first shock of a major earthquake reached her, and it changed the shape of the Mississippi ^[4]. A Natchez report dated 1 January called her a boat "so long expected here," and according to a passenger, about 300 acres of riverbank had caved in at one place ^[5]. On 23 January she set out toward Natchez and made 75 miles in her first 24 hours ^[6]. The riverboat on the Mississippi mug (5) may be a distant descendant of that first one.

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

What's on the mug

1
Lettering
MISSISSIPPI in orange capitals across a dark green circle.
2
Blue crab
A blue crab with orange markings sits at the upper left, with a second claw raised above the lettering.
3
Butterfly
A blue-and-black butterfly with white spots flies above the lettering.
4
Pale blue flower
A pale blue flower with red leaves sits at the upper right, beside the handle.
5
Riverboat
A white riverboat with a red stern moves along a pale blue river below the lettering.
6
Truss bridge
A red-orange truss bridge crosses the river at the left.
7
Slice of pie
A slice of pie topped with swirls of cream sits at the lower right.
8
Glass of iced tea
A glass of iced tea with an orange slice stands at the right edge.

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

Collector notes

The photo is slightly out of focus and shows the dark box behind the mug, with the print STARBUCKS DISCOVERY SERIES partly hidden by the mug.
The crab and the butterfly sit above the lettering, while the riverboat and the dessert sit below it.

Before you buy

The photo shows one side of this 14 fl oz Discovery Series mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. Starbucks also made a Mississippi mug in the Been There series, so check the series name in the listing before you buy.