The most controversial cup of coffee of the year returns with four new designs. Just ahead of the end of daylights savings time, Starbucks released its Christmas coffee cup designs The four designs this year are more obviously Christmas themed than the infamous pure red cup of 2015 that sparked a controversy the coffee company in no way expected. Since 1997, Starbucks had released holiday themed coffee cups to match its seasonal coffee specials. Customers looked forward to seeing the designs on the cups which had for years included snowmen, ornaments, reindeer, doves, bows, sleds and snowflakes. Instead, in 2015, the “holiday cup” was plain red. Christians had felt for some time that there was a deliberate attempt to remove any mention of Christmas from the public sphere, and the plain red cup was the straw the broke the camel’s back. There was a firestorm of controversy, and people claimed Starbucks had “declared war on Christmas.”

The following year, reindeer once again covered the holiday coffee cup, and in 2017, the holiday design was an outline meant to allow customers to color on their cup. The 2018 holiday cup has four different designs: red stripes, red and white flames, mistletoe with berries and green argyle with white stars. The company maintains that its more openly Christmas themed cups have nothing to do with the controversy from three years ago and instead come from information gathered about customer preferences through the mobile app and in person comments to employees. Judging by the cup designs, what people wanted was more Christmas. “We listened to our customers,” said Roz Brewer, COO for Starbucks. “[Customers] loved the tradition of Christmas…[They] have come to expect [holiday cups and seasonal drinks and foods.] I think it’s exciting for them.”

In addition to the new cups and seasonal classic flavors such as peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes, Starbucks will also be selling Christmas-themed treats such as sugarplum cheese Danishes and pistachio honey croissants. With the days getting shorter and mornings getting darker, hopefully the Christmas themed cups and treats will help keep people’s spirits up as the holiday season begins.