Starbucks is tying Red Cup Day 2026 to a Bearista Glass Cold Cup comeback, with the original cup returning to select Starbucks coffeehouses on Dec. 1. A Glass Bearista Cold Cup Surprise Box Edition will arrive first on Nov. 10, giving fans two separate chances to buy into the holiday drop.
Bearista Glass Cold Cup on Dec. 1
The original cup comes with a green beanie-shaped lid and striped straw, a look that helped turn it into a holiday event of its own after it sold out quickly last year. It also began showing up on resale sites for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, which is why the Dec. 1 return is likely to draw fast-moving demand from fans of the Bearista.
That demand has a practical edge: Starbucks has not shared how many cups will be available. For shoppers, that means the release is less like a standard seasonal menu item and more like a limited drop, where timing at select locations will matter more than ordinary holiday traffic.
Surprise Box Edition on Nov. 10
Before the original cup returns, Starbucks will release the Glass Bearista Cold Cup Surprise Box Edition on Nov. 10. Each sealed box contains a collection of festive characters, and the boxes will be available in limited quantities while supplies last.
The sealed-box format changes the buying experience. Customers will know they are getting a Surprise Box Edition, but not which character they will receive, so the purchase is built around collecting rather than choosing a specific design. For anyone hoping to avoid the secondary market frenzy that followed last year’s sellout, the first useful step is to watch the Nov. 10 release closely.
Holiday demand and resale pressure
Starbucks previously offered thousands more Bearista cups as prizes in its holiday game after the cup sold out last year, a sign of how quickly the demand overwhelmed the initial release. Walmart also sold a lookalike of the Bearista cup, showing how far the design traveled once the original became hard to find.
For shoppers, the important part is simple: the original Bearista Glass Cold Cup returns on Dec. 1, the Surprise Box Edition lands on Nov. 10, and neither release comes with a public count. Fans who want one will need to treat both dates as limited opportunities, not open-ended holiday merch drops.
