Starbucks Decks The Halls With 4 New Retro Holiday Cups

There are two highly anticipated days of the year for Starbucks fans: the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the holiday cup reveal. The #PSL came back earlier than ever this year on August 28 and we've just received word that the famous red cups (and accompanying seasonal beverages) will be back in the U.S. and Canada on November 2.

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Starbucks traditionally releases just one red holiday cup per year with exceptions here and there, like in 2016 when they dropped 13 customer-created cups. But there are four to choose from this season — two of which are green. Each one contains an element important to the coffee chain — a star, a branch of coffee cherries, flames and stripes — plus nostalgia-inducing vintage colors and patterns like mint green and argyle. Designers are hoping these retro cups will help coffee and tea drinkers remember younger days filled with snow angels, old family recipes and dressing the tree with childhood ornaments. Here's your first look at Starbucks' new holiday cups:

Espresso Houndstooth
Houndstooth is an iconic vintage clothing pattern — something your mom likely rocked in her heyday. Starbucks used it on this cup to represent its Christmas Blend Espresso Roast because it has an "intense flavor and caramelly sweetness," which was interpreted into a red and white flame copycat Houndstooth.

Stripes
This cup mimics the sealed seam (called a fin) that runs along the back of each Starbucks coffee bag. This design features bright and dark reds with contrasting pink, green, white and black stripes meant to evoke the excited feeling of unwrapping gifts.

Flora
Ripe coffee cherries have had their day in the sun on Starbucks holiday packaging in both 2013 and 2017. This one fits the bill perfectly, considering they look strikingly similar to holly, perhaps the most symbolic Christmas greenery of all time (besides the spruce, pine, or fir tree of course).

Stargyle
Starbucks uses stars in its materials often. There's even one atop the Siren's head in the company logo. The inspiration for this cup came from the 1999 holiday release, which featured a couple reaching to place a star on top of a Christmas tree. The 2018 version shows twinkling stars between the strands of what looks like a green chain-link fence but is described as a modern-day version of the classic sweater style, argyle.

Each new limited-edition cup will be available starting November 2, as will the festive drinks that fill them. Returning seasonal flavors include peppermint mocha, toasted white chocolate mocha, caramel brulee latte, chestnut praline latte, gingerbread latte and eggnog latte. All are available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino, and anybody who orders one on November 2 will receive a free, limited-edition reusable cup that grants you 50 cents off holiday drinks after 2 p.m. until January 7. We're in love with these Starbucks holiday cups and we already know what we're going to put inside them: these beverages from the secret menu.