Manchester-based TikTok creator Cissy Jones secured the goody at the Arndale Starbucks store
13:27, 15 Jan 2026
An exciting new product dropped in Starbucks stores across the UK on Thursday (January 15), which left customers waking up at the crack of dawn in hopes of securing one of the limited-edition goodies.
Back in November last year, the viral Starbucks Bearista Cup hit shelves across stores in America, sending shoppers into a frenzy as they fought to get their hands on the limited-edition cold beverage cup in the shape of a teddy bear. Footage posted on social media at the time showed shoppers scrambling to get the item, while others queued outside for hours from as earlier as 2am to secure one.
The cute bear cups were so in demand that shortly after selling out in stores, the cold beverage cups were spotted on second-hand selling platforms for much higher than their retail price.
But now, Starbucks has released the Bearista Cup across UK stores this week - specifically appearing on shelves on Thursday 15 January. In a post shared on Starbucks' Instagram page on Monday (January 12), alongside a sneak peek of the coffee cup, the coffee chain wrote: "this is not a drill... see you 15.01 . T&C's apply. One Bearista Cup per customer only. While stocks last."
And on Thursday, the global coffee chain shared: "the one you've all been waiting for, get your paws on the Bearista cup in store today! T&C's apply. One Bearista Cup per customer only. While stocks last."
And all over social media, Starbucks lovers have shared how they raced to stores in the early hours of the morning to try and secure one of the limited-edition cups.
Manchester-based TikTok creator Cissy Jones shared a video on Thursday morning explaining how she went out at 5:30am to try and purchase one of the cups. Captioning her video, she wrote: "THE BEARISTA CUPS ARE IN THE UK! USA only had 2 in stores apparently but I found two stores with 8 in Manchester!! (Another one had 18!!)"
Filming herself in a lift, Cissy explained: "Do you know the viral bear cups - they are out in the UK at Starbucks. It's currently 5:30AM."
Then walking into a Starbucks store, where she spotted the cups she said: "They've got the bear cups!" And asked the staff member for it before showing it off in her TikTok video.
She said: "People were reselling these for £500 in America. The Manchester Arndale had eight." Cissy purchased her cup from Starbucks in the Arndale Centre in Manchester for £27.95.
In the comments, other fans of the viral cup have shared their successes and failures. TikTok user Sezamek wrote: "Manchester, we got this!" Alongside a picture of their cup. Orlando added: "Won the war ladies!!!", and Sasha Houston said: "Love it !!! So hard to get "
One commenter couldn't justify the price as they wrote: "price is extortionate otherwise I would".
Another TikTok creator Shivani Khosla set off at 6:35am and visited three different Starbucks branches to try and secure the bear cup, but sadly by that time she was too late and they had all already sold out.
In the comments, one person wrote: "I was at the store I went to at 5am as well, first in line and by the time they opened their queue was like 15 ppl it was crazy I thought I was crazy getting up at 5am but it was so worth it. They only had 7 in the store the side eye from the back of the line was insane!!! Very great full I got one thou."
Some people who succeeded in obtaining the cup commented: "Eeek I queued from 4.45am", someone else wrote: "I got one @5.30am", and another person said: "Well worth the 4am wake up call".
One person has shared on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that for those who missed out, a similar product can be found on Amazon. @brummy_dan wrote: "For all those people who didn’t get a bear cup from Starbucks and don’t want to pay the £125 people are already asking for online… …you can get them from Amazon for £15 and it’ll be with you tomorrow."
Also on X, another disappointed customer @ashleigh21w shared: "@StarbucksUK the teddy bear cup was out today, so I went to my nearest Starbucks for opening this morning to get told they sold out before opening. How is this even possible? This is unfair!! I’m trying to get my hands on one but I’ve had no luck!!!"