Why do coffee beans origin fans return the Blue Bottle mug?
Blue Bottle Coffee Japan released its 2024 holiday limited series under the theme Delicious Gifts, including a caramel-colored Kiyosumi Shirakawa cup and a dark caramel Kinto ceramic mug. Buyers reported that the rich caramel shown in official photos arrived as a pale milk tea shade, and that crooked logos, body flaws and uneven coloring appeared often, prompting complaints and returns.
The Kiyosumi Shirakawa Cup is a permanent classic designed by Claska and fired in Arita-cho, released in winter editions for several consecutive years. Blue Bottle attributed the color gap to handmade glazing and shooting lighting, but the explanation has not settled the dispute, and buyers continue to compare promotional images with what arrived.
At the end of every year, Blue Bottle Coffee releases holiday-limited merchandise in Japan. This year's theme is "Delicious Gifts," featuring items such as a caramel-colored Kiyosumi Shirakawa cup and a dark caramel Kinto ceramic mug. However, after the products went on sale, many consumers discovered a noticeable color discrepancy between the actual item and the official promotional images—the rich caramel color shown in the promo shots turned out to be a pale milk tea shade upon arrival. In addition, quality control issues such as crooked logos, flaws on the cup body, and uneven coloring appeared frequently, sparking a wave of complaints and returns. The official explanation attributed the color difference to the handmade glazing process and shooting lighting conditions, but the controversy continues to simmer.
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Entering November, the year-end holiday atmosphere grows stronger, and major brands are rolling out festive limited-edition products one after another, hoping to stir up a wave of attention first. Blue Bottle Coffee has traditionally released holiday series merchandise in Japan in previous years, giving the classic "Kiyosumi Shirakawa Cup" a seasonal new look with a winter theme, and this year continues that tradition.
At the end of last month, Blue Bottle Coffee Japan launched the 2024 holiday gift limited series under the theme "Delicious Gifts," including a caramel-colored Kiyosumi Shirakawa cup, a dark caramel Kinto ceramic mug, as well as soy candles, furoshiki wrapping, instant coffee, plates, and other Christmas limited-edition items.
The Kiyosumi Shirakawa Cup is a permanent classic mug from Blue Bottle Coffee, designed by Japanese Claska and fired in Arita-cho. It is said that after Blue Bottle Coffee opened its shop in the Kiyosumi district of Tokyo, this cup came to be known as the "Kiyosumi Cup."
According to the official introduction, this coffee cup has been released in winter limited editions for many consecutive years. This year, to echo the "delicious" theme, Blue Bottle gave it a warm caramel color, which quickly caught the attention of many "cup collectors" upon release. As more and more Blue Bottle fans successfully unboxed and got their hands on the actual product, they shared beautiful photos from various angles and praised it highly.
But soon, the praise for this cup was drowned out by a wave of complaints from aesthetics-focused consumers, who said they had been "catfished" by the official photos—the coffee cup in the promotional images was clearly a rich caramel color, but the actual product looked like it was missing a shot, fading directly from mocha to milk tea.
When comparing the coffee cup in hand with the official images side by side, the buyer's photo shows the color is visibly several shades lighter. Even when picking one out in person at the store, you can find that every cup of the same model has noticeable color differences, making people exclaim "unbelievable"...
Moreover, beyond the obvious color discrepancies, the quality of each cup is like opening a blind box—whether it's a pleasant surprise or a disappointment is all down to luck. Issues include crooked Blue Bottle logos, flaws on the cup body, and uneven coloring. Because the actual product indeed falls short of perfection as expected, many people ultimately chose to return theirs.
As complaint posts multiplied, experienced netizens offered an explanation: the color differences may be caused by the lighting conditions or photography equipment used. As for the uneven coloring that those with OCD complain about the most, it's because this ceramic cup is made using a unique glazing method called "Dobakake." The color formation depends on the glaze and the amount of glaze used, and the chemical changes during firing give each cup a different glazed appearance.
In fact, regarding the color discrepancy issue that people complain about the most, the green mug released last year had already shown the same problem. The official explanation at the time was that products sold in all markets are identical, but some logos are adjusted according to different market regulations. This year, Blue Bottle Coffee has likewise posted text reminders across various channels: since each cup is handmade-glazed, the color depth may vary, and the actual product shall prevail.
Image source: Internet screenshots
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