How Do You Take Your Free Coffee? Celebrating National Coffee Day

If you are like most of America – or the world – for that matter, you love your morning cup of coffee. According to Punchbowl.com, 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year worldwide. That's a lot of joe!

No matter how you take it: black, with sugar, with cream, latte, cappucino, espresso, or decaf, remember to honor that cup of hot liquid this Saturday, Sept. 29 as it's National Coffee Day (aka International Coffee Day or National Free Coffee Day).

According to Wikipedia, National Coffee Day is an annual event observed on Sept. 29 for the celebration and enjoyment of the popular beverage. It was first celebrated in 1983. This day is also used to promote fair trade coffee and to raise awareness for the plight of the coffee growers.

Also on this day, many businesses around the world offer free or discounted cups of coffee.

According to Punchbowl.com, you can send a free Coffee Day eCard and then find out where you can go to get a free cup of joe. In previous years, companies such as Krispy Kreme, 7-Eleven, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, to name a few, have participated.

And fear not, according to an article in the Huffington Post, coffee is good for you! Maybe not eight or 10 cups a day, but a modest two cups a day reduces your risk of heart failure.

So, where did coffee come from and how did it become so popular?

According to legend (and Punchbowl), a sixth-century Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi discovered his goats frolicking from one coffee shrub to another. He recognized that the coffee berries they were eating had a stimulating effect, and he began to experiment with the seeds. A century later, brewed coffee emerged in Arabia and the popularity of coffee grew at an exponential rate.

Don't forget to take a coffee break (or two) to celebrate this historical and important beverage!

Here's where you can find some free coffee or discounted prices on your favorite beverage on National Coffee Day:

McDonald's restaurants along the East Coast will be giving away free 12-ounce coffees every day from Sept. 23 through Sept. 29. No purchase is necessary, and coffee will be available in the drive-thru or in the restaurants.

It’s CofFREE Day at 7-Eleven, which means a free large coffee for anyone who stops by a participating 7-Eleven store between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sept. 28.