Where to Get Free Java for National Coffee Day 2012

If the first words out of your mouth every morning are, “I’ll have a large coffee”—or if you can’t even speak until after you’ve had your java fix—there's a national holiday created especially for you.

America will put staunch tea drinkers to shame on National Coffee Day Sept. 29, when coffee fiends can rejoice and celebrate their beloved coffee bean with free brew from national chains.

Coffee was first brought to America in the mid-1600s in a shipment en route to “New Amsterdam,” now known as New York, according to the National Coffee Association. We have that shipment and the Boston Tea Party to thank for turning the nation into coffee drinkers.  

Some national chains will be giving out free cups of coffee during the week of Sept. 23.  

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

Over at 7-Eleven it will be CofFREE Day Sept. 28, which means a free large coffee for anyone who stops by a participating store between 6am and 10am.

Dunkin' Donuts participated in National Coffee Day last year and it's possible they'll do so again this year.

There are two Dunkin' Donuts stores in the Saucon Valley--one in Hellertown and one in Lower Saucon Township.

And if you prefer to buy your brew from a local independent purveyor, you should know that Hellertown-Lower Saucon Patch readers voted Cafe Erica the best place for coffee in the area earlier this year.

What’s your favorite blend, and where do you get it? Do you know of another local establishment that's participating in the National Coffee Day celebrations? Tell us in the comments!