Its beans may grow from the Earth below, but your perfect coffee order may come from the stars up above.
On March 20, news emerged of a partnership between Starbucks, the world’s biggest coffee chain, and Sanctuary, a mobile app that provides horoscopes and mystical services like psychic and tarot card readings. The pairing, which aims to pour a shot of mysticism into your daily joe, was first announced on both Starbucks' and Sanctuary’s own Instagram pages.
“Whatever you’re drinking, your stars will be your guide. And for Gemini, that means they’ve already hit send,” reads the caption on Sanctuary’s official Instagram post announcing the partnership.
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According to reps for both brands, the partnership is celebrating the astrological new year, which started on Monday, March 20 with an interactive website. The site, called Starbucks Star Signs, matches customers with their perfect Starbucks drink and spring horoscope.
“Spring is a moment for new beginnings, there’s no better time than the spring equinox to let the stars decide how to refresh your rituals this spring,” a Starbucks representative tells TODAY.com in a statement.
According to reps, customers can visit the Starbucks Star Signs website to receive a personalized horoscope reading powered by Sanctuary. Based on their star sign and whether they prefer a coffee break in the morning or afternoon, customers will receive a personalized “Star Signs Chart” that includes their power words, spring color, flower and Starbucks drink recommendation, now through April 20.
Sanctuary astrologer Lauren Ash helped develop the Star Sign Charts and worked with Starbucks to determine the perfect drink pairing for each sign.
Starbucks
For example, I’m a Taurus who likes to drink my coffee in the morning. The results from my reading revealed that my power words were “dependable, focused and resilient.” I also was given a color reading of soft jade as part of the experience, a peony as my flower and of course a drink: an iced Matcha latte. According to Ash, all of these choices were deliberate based on my astrological sign.
“When developing the star sign and drink pairings, we looked at the core personality traits of each sign to identify a beverage that acts as an expression of your planetary ruler,” Ash says. “March is the start of Aries season, and Aries are known to be bold and confident. These readings are designed to empower anyone, regardless of star sign, to lean into that energy with the fresh start of spring.”
Starbucks
The partnership between the two companies connects the worlds of food and astrology, which according to TODAY’s resident astrology expert, are more closely aligned than you may think.
The Scene
"You can connect anything with astrology, because every different zodiac sign has its own inclinations based on the planet that rules the zodiac sign,” says astrologer and TODAY.com contributor Lisa Stardust.
“Primarily we would look to your planetary ruler, which is Venus and your moon sign to see what kind of foods you’re inclined to eat, if we’re gonna get really particular,” Stardust says, adding that what Starbucks and Sanctuary are doing adheres to a few known facts about each sign, which is why my given drink is on the fancier side of Starbucks’ menu.
“We can say Tauruses love indulgent meals because you’re ruled by Venus. So, while you may or may not have a sweet tooth, Tauruses are into delicacies like champagne, the whole nine yards,” she says.
Starbucks
Libras who love a coffee break in the afternoon will enjoy sipping on a Starbucks’ Strawberry Açaí Refreshers beverage, which has notes of passion fruit and coconut milk. Stardust posits that the reading is looking at a few of Libra’s most inherent attributes, as demonstrated by a cherry blossom hue, orchid flower and the Pink Drink.
Starbucks
“A lot of times when we’re assigning colors to zodiac signs, we’ll pick green for Taurus, because it’s an earth sign and we usually assign pink to Libra, because it’s an Air sign,” Stardust says, adding that Libra’s planetary ruler is also Venus, which is often associated with the color pink.
“The orchid is all about beauty, refinement, grace, thoughtfulness, harmony, all of those characteristics that adhere to the zodiac sign,” she says.
As to whether or not this will inspire anyone to switch up their Starbucks order, only time will tell. “It’s fun that Starbucks is doing this for the season,” Stardust says, pointing out that many people have been using astrology to inform their diets for years. “It’s a cute little thing to get people interested in astrology, and you know, why not?”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
