In the 1990s, the merchandise inside a Starbucks was about the coffee. It was about the coffee beans, the coffee variety, and the many amazing blends. At several times in the 1990s, Starbucks released series of coffee mugs based on the coffee stamp design for that coffee. The “coffee stamp” was literally a sticky stamp used to label bags of coffee when you scooped beans out of the bins, and sometimes used to securely close bags of coffee. At one time, it was truly common for people to buy only half-pound sizes of coffee, and so if the barista needed to rip open a one-pound flavorlock bag, the coffee sticker was used on the customer’s 1/2 pound bag. Slowly, Starbucks has gotten so far away from these old coffee stamps that these days I meet many baristas who are not sure why their store has them. The merchandise in the 1990s often showed off or was influenced by the coffee stamp for a specific coffee. These four mugs shown here are an example of what I mean (sadly, I only own these four).
The care and thought that went into each of these mugs is obvious: Each one has truly a beautiful design on it.
Enjoy these beautiful mugs!
And if you like this kind of blog entry on 1990s era Starbucks merchandise, be sure to look at this blog entry on a 1994 book called “Passion for the Coffee”:
Also, if you want to read another blog post on Starbucks mugs, check out this blog entry on the Starbucks city mugs:
Thank you to Molly of Seattle Custom Framing for her assistance with the photography used in this blog post.
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holy cow! new options:) nice.
re: the mugs, I LOVE these, and I remember when they had them. Sadly, I don’t have any of them now, altho I used to. (I never expected for Sbux to disappear to the extent that it has)
My store still has lots of the stamps too, altho they don’t use them…… I recently got a barista to pull them out and fill up what I could of the passport book that was given out at our ‘tasting’. They really need to make those books more available to customers, they are so loaded with info. (like they used to…..)
Nice mugs! I particularly like the Sulawesi. I have a, um, moderate collection, but I don’t have any of these! Someone should really come out with a guide to Starbucks mugs…
Hi LatteRose, and Denise! Glad you like these old mugs. This blog post is really a great example of how the merchandise has changed. It used to be so different. There is some cute stuff in the stores now, but rarely is it brand-passionate merchandise anymore. Sorry that the photos are a little screwy right now – I need to go back and clean up how the pics in this post are displaying … when I have some time.
First of all I would like to proudly state that my store is one of the few that still routinely sells half (and even quarter!) pounds of coffee. I would never discourage a barista from opening a flavorlock bag. We bag up the other half of the pound and try to sell it, and if it looks like it will expire before being sold we start making presses out of it to sample and educate customers!
I really wish I had some mugs like this. I don’t own too many starbucks mugs. I have an Anniversary Blend tumbler, and I’ve made it a point to buy the Christmas mug (the one we release modeled after that year’s paper cup) every year since 2006.
Just started following you on Twitter and reading your blog. I’m a native Seattleite so I love the SBX news!
I have to admit that as much as I love starbucks coffee I’m very enamored of their mugs and tumblers 🙂 I don’t remember these particular ones and that’s what I like about the mugs n tumblers…the variety from store to store and state to state…and continent to continent!
I’ve worked in two stores that routinely sold sub-pound whole bean amounts, but three that did not. I do try and offer them to customers as a way to ensure freshness… and frequent return visits!
As for the old stamps, one store had a bunch of them stuck around in various places.. they were like little treasures to find around the store!
These are before my (Starbucks) time. Am I the only one who thinks Starbucks should do retro mugs?
I love the mug from Costa Rica. Starbucks knows how to do tumblers really well as well. I have purchased so many holiday tumblers from them and the mugs are aways fun to give as gifts stuffed with star treats! 🙂
I love these old mugs. Really wish they had more themed mugs in the stores. I’d totally rock a Komodo Dragon mug.
Wow, talk about old school. Beauty stands the test of time.
How many ounces do those hold? They don’t look very big at all, maybe 12 oz or so. The city mugs & most mugs in the store hold a generous 16 oz. Looks like as the company grew, so did mug girth!
It saddens me though to think that the “art” is sort of slipping away from starbucks at least in my area. Case in point – no barista art at 7 starbucks locations SEVEN! I mean c’mon. I hope they start again wtih the mugs that you posted above. I love them!
@essentialascend @Clark-Kent @Dana –
@EssentialAscend – great comment! It definitely has looked to me like the size of Starbucks mug has gone up over the years.
@Clark Kent – I would LOVE to see another round of coffee themed mugs based on the stamps. These mugs are before the major 1997 coffee stamp revision, which to this date, I’ve never quite adjusted to. In my mind I still see Italian Roast as the Leaning Tower of Piza, and Sumatra as a fabulous orange tiger, nothing like the 1997 revised stamps.
@DG- That is a GREAT idea!!! Retro coffee mugs would be a hit! These things were amazingly beautiful – stood the test of time, as essentialascend said!
I completely have to admit, I saw those stickers at my local store and didn’t know why they used them! They used them when they sampled out little bags of coffee to take home. Oh I also noticed they still have the ‘whole bean’ sign above their menu board.
I know what U mean about the focus of the retail being everyone else but the coffee company I started at 3 yrs ago. I must admit the 1/2 and 1/4 pounds I sell every week do seem to be less and less. The “green beans” have to be taught because it doesn’t happen all the time. Bags of coffee, scooped, custom blends. We even used to do a “Dragon Classic” blend for our local football team support. We even have custom stickers made for it.
Oh goodness those are great points Skooter. The era of custom-blends is almost gone. It’s so rare that people ask for half-Verona half-something else, or whatever it may be. I think there are baristas who are not sure if they can (are even allowed to) sell a 1/2 pound of coffee
those mugs are beautiful! I saw a Seattle city mug the other day from about 6 or 7 years or so ago. It was gorgeous. It had pictures of Seattle landmarks in black and white.
I still have a couple of whole bean customers who gets custom blends, but yes, very rare.
LOL @ Skooter. Do you remember having to ring up Dragon Classic? The first time trying to do it I got so confused!!!
Melody, these mugs are beautiful! Strange to see what appears to be an airplane pilot on House Blend. Wonder what the story is behind that. Old school Starbucks seems a lot more authentic than new school Starbucks… Like… even their retail is decorated with coffee education, whereas today we have fun, Spring-themed mugs… just thinking out loud (or rather online)… I feel like this comment doesn’t even make sense.
On another note, I have a question for everybody who was a patron to old school Starbucks. What is the correct ratio for Viennese Blend? There is no information on percentages of which beans go into this blend in the coffee and tea resource manual at the stores. I saw someone post a couple different ratios on StarbucksGossip, but didn’t know which was correct. Is Viennese Blend good??? I’ve seen stores that have the enlarged stamp on their walls.
@CamSpi – Ugh word press is making me crazy. For some reason these images are not laying side by side right. Anyway, I’ve been told that these old coffee stamps (pre-1997 major stamp re-do) were all partner-created ideas and art in some way. Verona used to be cupid. Kenya was an amazing elephant. Sumatra was a beautiful orange tiger. Italian Roast was the leaning tower of piza. Ugh. I don’t remember them all.
@denise r — There are customer passports available to order (not the Something Bold coupon thing). They’re still listed in the SKU guide and they’re great to get people started at a coffee tasting event.
Wow…I never in a million years would have thought that the baristas would open up a flavorlock bag, to sell only half of it! It actually makes me want to ask them to see what the reaction would be!
They may surprise me though! When I had my 1st coffee tasting last week I had an opportunity to sit down with the DM and have a great conversation. She has been with Starbucks for 15 years…so she should have been there for the more coffee focused days. Interesting info, as always! =)
oh wow, love these mugs!
And it really saddens me that baristas would not know what the stamps were for…mostly b/c it not only means they are not making .5 lbs of coffee, but that they are not working through their passports.
very beautiful mugs .. i like it ,,, and 2 mugs give me us ,,
OK Mel question for you and anyone else who may know… theirs a picture of a “pilot” for House Blend… Do we know if it’s just a stock image or is it’s real person? AND why is it on a house blend Mug?
@LaireLandon – Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. A long time ago, all the coffee stamps were different images than now. I think it was 1997 that all the images changed. Verona used to be a little cupid. Italian Roast was the leaning tower of Piza (and will always be that in my mind), and Sumatra had a different tiger that was a lot bolder orange, and more fierce. I’ve always thought the old House Blend stamp, which was the standard introduction to Starbucks coffee, told the customer that “you’ve begun an adventure now – you’re beans come from some place exotic, so welcome on this plane trip around the world …” That was just my own meaning to the stamp. I really miss how incredibly thought out all the old coffee bag designs were. Starbucks has been putting less and less thought into coffee bag stamps – meaning giving customers a design that they can really read something into, and not a pedestrian design. The last great new coffee stamp design that I can think of was the 2008 Rwanda coffee – Remember it was a brown bag, and a perfect stamp on it? Blues, and reds, and a lush green coffee farm scene. Beautifully thought out packaging.
When I first started going to Starbucks, I was given a little book. When it was filled with stamps, I could redeem it for a free pound of coffee! Do you have any idea who the artist was whose signature shows on my Guatemala Mug?