Starbucks is bringing back its sold-out Bearista Glass Cold Cup and rolling out new winter drinks weeks after closing about 250 underperforming stores across North America.
USA TODAY reported on Oct. 5, 2026, that Starbucks shared its 2026 winter holiday menu, complete with new drinks, food, merchandise, and the return of the Bearista Glass Cold Cup.
Most of the new drink, food, and merchandise items are set to hit coffeehouses on Nov. 5. The company had not yet said when the Bearista cup itself would return as of the Oct. 5 announcement.
The timing lands about two weeks after Starbucks shut roughly 250 locations across North America. Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said in a public letter that those closures stemmed from store underperformance, a hard business call that followed years of uneven results and 250 more North American coffeehouse cutbacks.
Starbucks is adding a Tiramisu Velvet line. The Tiramisu Velvet Latte, hot or iced, comes topped with velvet mascarpone cold foam plus cocoa and coffee dusting. A Tiramisu Velvet Cold Brew joins it.
Also new: an Apple Pomegranate Refresher with crisp apple flavors and popping pomegranate-flavored pearls, plus a Snowy Apple Pomegranate Refresher made with coconut milk.
Returning favorites include the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Sugar Cookie Latte, and Gingerbread Chai. On the food side, the chain is introducing a Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese and a Turkey & Stuffing Sandwich with a new recipe, while bringing back the Cranberry Bliss Bar, Snowman Cookie, and Sugar Plum Cheese Danish.
That menu push arrives as the company continues to manage labor fights and city-level pressure, including when Philadelphia backed a Starbucks union boycott.
The Bearista Glass Cold Cup is a 20-ounce glass cup shaped like a teddy bear, finished with a green Starbucks stocking cap and a green straw. Last year the cups sold for about $30, hit shelves on Nov. 6, and, Starbucks said, sold out in less than a day.
Last November the company put it this way:
"The excitement for our merchandise exceeded even our biggest expectations and despite shipping more Bearista cups to coffeehouses than almost any other merchandise item this holiday season, the Bearista cup and some other items sold out fast."
Demand did not cool in 2026. Starbucks released a soccer-themed Bearista cup in June for the World Cup. A Pink Bearista cup followed in July and sold out by 7 a.m. local time on release day, the company previously told USA TODAY. A Snoopy Glass Cold Cup dropped in September and quickly sold out too.
Price and exact release timing for this year’s Bearista cup remain unannounced. Shoppers who want one will have to watch the calendar the same way they did after earlier sell-outs.
Merchandise collections arrive on staggered dates. The Holiday Village, Peppermint Mocha, and Bearista collections are listed for Nov. 5. The Winter Wonderland collection follows on Nov. 17. Holiday Village celebrates the company’s Seattle roots and draws inspiration from the original Pike Place store.
Those product drops sit beside a different corporate story: pruning weak locations. Grams tied the latest round of closures to underperformance, and earlier reporting tracked 64 California shop closures in broader cutbacks.
Company-wide policy fights have run in parallel. Starbucks has faced costly legal and compliance pressure, including a case that ended when the chain paid $1 million to settle Florida DEI hiring rules, and later coverage of store shutterings tied to a wider policy overhaul.
Viral cups and seasonal lattes can fill social feeds. They do not erase the basic test every coffeehouse still faces: cover costs, serve customers, and stay open.
Holiday hype sells fast. Underperforming stores still close when the numbers do not work, and customers notice which priority comes first.