The viral Starbucks Bearista mug that vanished in hours is back — and maybe even harder to get

Starbucks’ viral Bearista mug is coming out of hibernation for one more holiday run. The company appears to be readying a second wave of its sold-out glass teddy-bear cups for Rewards diehards, hinting at a Dec. 8 return in an app-focused social media teaser after the first drop turned into a frenzy.

The first batch of the “Bearista Cold Cup” — a 20-ounce, glass holiday collectible shaped like a teddy bear wearing a hat (the lid) in the company’s signature green, carrying its own mini Starbucks drink and complete with a striped straw — sold out within hours of its Nov. 6 launch, leaving lines, fights, and an apology in its wake. 

Starbucks had originally teased the cup for weeks as part of its 2025 holiday rollout, but what followed was less cozy than the design. By dawn, customers were camping out for it. Some stores reportedly received just one or two units. Others ran out before opening. Social media posts accused employees of buying the cup before customers had a chance to. Videos of scuffles circulated online; at least one Texas store called law enforcement after a merchandise dispute. Then, listings on eBay and Mercari as the week rolled on priced the $30 cup at anywhere from $150 to more than $1,000.

The Dec. 8 tease is the company’s answer to that blowback — and a way to push even more action into its app. In a holiday video posted to the company’s 18 million followers on Instagram, Starbucks lined up a row of seasonal cups, then pulled back to reveal the Bearista with the caption, “Your chance is in the Starbucks app.”

The teaser post has already pulled in more than 57,000 likes and 4,000 comments, with people saying they’re refreshing the app and warning that “the app is going to crash” and “may the odds be ever in your favor.” Starbucks has been fanning the hype in the replies, telling one commenter “tomorrow changes everything” and another, quite ominously, “soon.”

The company hasn’t spelled out how many cups are coming back or exactly how customers will get them, which only fueled more speculation in the comments and across local coverage. But the fine print seems to offer a clearer hint. Rules for the “Starbucks for Life Merrython” promotion list 17,000 Glass Starbucks Bearista Cold Cups as instant-win prizes for Rewards members, each with a stated value of $29.95, alongside millions of free food and drink giveaways. That suggests the “restock” will be less a simple shelf refill and more a controlled second chance routed through a sweepstakes-style game.

The rest of the market has already moved on the opportunity. Retailers — including Walmart, Aldi, and a long tail of online sellers — are now offering their own bear-shaped glass cups, which deliberately stop just short of copying the logo but borrow the basic silhouette, beanie, and straw at a range of lower price points.

Still, for Starbucks loyalists, none of the lookalikes can replace the siren-stamped original. So for now, the bear-y cute mug that turned a holiday merch drop into a scavenger hunt is getting at least one more outing — you just have to go through the app, not the café, to find it.