National Coffee Day 2021: Where To Get Deals In Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND — It's National Coffee Day, a day that highlights Americans' caffeine obsession. Not sure where to celebrate in Rhode Island? Patch is here to help.

• New England standby Dunkin' is offering enrolled perks customers a medium free coffee —hot or iced — with any purchase, all day.
• Starbucks, meanwhile, also typically offers free samples or cups of coffee on Sept. 29, according to Coffeeaffection.com.
• Local 7-Eleven stores have also offered National Coffee Day deals, with any size coffees going for $1 while using the store’s smartphone app, per TheSpruceEats.com

Here's a look at some other offers to take advantage of today, from Offers.com.

• Cumberland Farms: Coffee for under a buck? Not only, but also get a load of the Flavor Station at Cumberland Farms where you can add a flavor shot for FREE, and still pay only $0.99 for a Cup o’ Joe.
• Keurig: Coffee lovers will enjoy the sweet deal going on right now at Keurig. Get Multi-Stream Technology™ on a Student Budget. For just $49.99 you can get the K-Slim® Starter Kit, regularly priced at $119.99, plus 25% off beverages and FREE shipping when you sign up for auto-delivery.
• SONIC: Let’s just say, if you’re one of the two people in the U.S. who isn’t a huge coffee fan, no worries. Sonic has you covered—and for a whole two months. Available from Sept. 27 through Nov. 27, valid when you apply for the reward online or in the SONIC app, you can take advantage of their half-price Blast offer. Enjoy ONE half-priced Blast before Nov. 27.

The exact origin of how Sept. 29 (or Oct. 1 in other countries) became National Coffee Day is cloudy, according to a NationalToday.com summary of the country’s long connection with the drink. It points to the 1773 Boston Tea Party as a key moment in U.S. history for when the country, quite literally, dumped tea for coffee.

When the people of the 13 colonies revolted against King George III’s hefty tea tax, “tea was out, and coffee was in,” the summary states.

The United States’ connection with coffee only became stronger in the years to follow. Brothers John and Charles Arbuckle started selling coffee to cowboys in the American West during the mid-1800s, and James Folger introduced the drink to gold miners in California before creating the J.A. Folger & Co. in 1872, according to NationalToday.com.

Other brands still around today, such as Maxwell House and Hills Brothers, eventually entered the coffee market. And Starbucks “changed everything” when it formed in Seattle in 1971, according to the summary.

The U.S. coffee shop market has now grown into a $45.4 billion industry, according to an account that cites the Allegra World Coffee Portal’s 2019 Project Café USA report.