For a lot of people the holidays is marked by festive lights, cheery music and golden lit fireplaces, but for a lot of teenagers the holiday season begins at the first sight of a Starbucks red cup. Out of the 2.3 billion paper cups that Starbucks uses each year, the red cups are a favorite. These cups celebrate the spirit, happiness, and good memories that lots of people associate with the holiday season.

Every year Starbucks employees prepare themselves for the rush of people that bust through the doors the day the red Starbucks cups are stocked and ready to go. Employees have people of all ages coming in to get their first festive cup of the season.

“It’s the holidays,” Starbucks barista Josh Hartwell said.  It’s the holiday feeling, the holiday season and people love the holidays.”

Starbucks is a well known name that reaches a wide variety of age groups. Between young children wanting their cocoa, teenagers who want a swirly frozen drink or businessmen who need a quick jolt of caffeine to start of the morning, people love their Starbucks. Red cups are like getting an early Christmas present to Starbucks regulars, especially to a certain group of customers.

“The girls like it,” Hartwell said. “That’s the answer right there. The chicks dig it. The guys don’t really care as much. The guys just want their coffee.”

You can’t get on Twitter or Instagram without seeing some brightly painted fingernails clutching a steamy peppermint mocha poured into the Starbucks staple: The Red Cup.

“I like the red cups because they make it feel like the holidays here,” sophomore Maddie Tober said.

Tober isn’t alone in her love of the holiday season. With decorations like snowflakes, ornaments and holly, Christmas in a cup has never looked or tasted so good.

“Starbucks is just another part of the Christmas season,” sophomore Caroline Doran said.