Where To Find Free Coffee In Austin Area On National Coffee Day

AUSTIN, TX — For coffee drinkers throughout the country, tomorrow is the equivalent of a holiday even if we still have to work. For Friday is National Coffee Day, a time devoted to celebrate the nectar of the gods without which we are unable to function.

Austin won't be left behind in commemorating this important day, with free or discounted coffee abounding. This is Christmas for us, tea drinkers. Or Thanksgiving without the turkey, and with an effect opposite of tryptophan what with that delightful caffeine buzz.

Krispy Kreme, McDonalds, Keurig, Peet's Coffee and other merchants will be offering coffee-related deals in commemoration of this important day. Dunkin' Donuts will be offering a free coffee with the purchase of another. Krispy Kreme is giving away free java through Sunday, no strings attached (save for the small cup center to its promotion, but still a very nice thing).

For those of you who hate Starbucks, there might be another reason to add in your binder of rage. The ginormous coffee shop chain will not offer free coffee at its stores, reports USA Today. Instead, the chain will share information with customers about how their coffee purchases have had an impact in advancing the company's commitment to ethical and sustainably sourced coffee.

That's all well and good, Starbucks. But what's a brother gottta do to get a free cup from you? More on participating merchants later.

Food delivery apps are getting into the act as well. Favor is offering free donuts (and free delivery) tomorrow morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. to offer the pastry complement to one's cup of coffee. Customers can tap on the "National Coffee Day" banner in the Favor app between those hours while using the code GLAZED to get $3 in Favor credit to cover the cost of donuts.

Favor's promotion will be offered in Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth. In Austin, participating merchants are: Shipley Do-Nuts; Dunkin Donuts; HEB; Howdy Donuts; Ken's Donuts; Krispy Kreme; and Master Donuts.

Lyft also is noting this most important day in select cities, including Austin. Those securing a ride from Lyft tomorrow will get a free can of High Brew Cold Brew Coffee during the ride, officials said. In addition to Austin, other participating cities include Dallas, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.

But back to participating coffee merchants for tomorrow's religious holiday, um, coffee commemoration. Here is a partial list of some of those:

Cinnabon: Get a free 12-ounce coffee Friday at participating locations nationwide.

Coffee Beanery: Participating stores will offer fresh brewed coffee for $1 all day Friday and $2 off a pound of coffee.

Cumberland Farms: Text FREECOFFEE to 64827 to get a mobile coupon good for a free hot or iced coffee, any size, for use at participating Cumberland Farms on Friday. This deal also includes your choice of tea, cappuccino or hot chocolate.

Dunkin' Donuts: Buy one medium or larger cup of hot coffee, get a medium hot coffee for free at participating locations nationwide.

Keurig: From Friday through Sunday, get 20% off all pods and bagged coffee purchased at www.keurig.com with coupon code CELEBRATE. Get free shipping with a $39 or higher purchase. Hey, it's something, right?

Krispy Kreme: Get one free hot brewed or small iced premium blend per day from Friday through Sunday.

McDonald’s: Get a small specialty coffee for $2 at participating locations for a limited time. Find their app on your smartphone and get coupons for a free medium McCafé with any purchase. But wait, there's more: When you purchase any five McCafé drinks you can get one free when a QR code from the app is scanned at checkout.

Peet’s Coffee: Participating Peet’s coffee bars on Friday will be offering 25 percent off all beans and a free drip coffee or tea with purchase of coffee beans. Additionally, via Peet’s website, get 25% off all regular, non-subscription bean purchases with promo code COFFEEDAY17. Limit one per person.

Pilot Flying J Travel Centers: Get a free small cup of Pilot Coffee, cappuccino or small hot tea at more than 750 locations nationwide by showing a coupon by clicking here or going to the Pilot Flying J Facebook page. The coupon can be shown on a smartphone or printed. Limit one per customer.

Wawa: Free cup of coffee of any size will be offered without the need for a coupon on Friday. Join Wawa Rewards to get a coupon for a free cup or by taking a quick survey as directed on your receipt.

Those are just some of the merchants who will be participating, the list here focusing on places in your readership area. There are others, many others, who will mark this all-important caffeine commemoration. To find more, use the hashtag #NationalCoffeeDay and feast your scrolling eyes on the deals to be had.

Not to divide the coffee community, but a heated (no pun intended) conversation was sparked as we planned our coffee coverage. Well, two points of debate emerged actually This writer has long preferred the French press as the ideal vehicle for coffee-making, long ago eschewing the drip machine. The true flavor of the coffee comes up with the plunging mechanism in a way that a automatic drip machine cannot even approximate.

Patch previously created a video illustrating this method of preparation:

What do you think, readers? We'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter in the comments thread. French press? Or traditional drip machine?

The other debate had to do with cold coffee. Some Patch writers expressed their love of this concoction while others (present company included) view the cold version something of an abomination that should be shunned at all costs. Do you have thoughts on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.

But at the end of the day, what unites us is coffee. Apologies if we've created a chasm by introducing the last two points tenuously related to National Coffee Day. It's just very interesting, as we consume a little more coffee than usual ahead of National Coffee Day, and the mind naturally travels to these ancillary subjects that affect one's caffeine enjoyment that as we mentioned we're partaking in advance of National Coffee Day to get into the spirit of things — but also because of research, ha ha, gotta do research — but in no way should these disparate preparation preferences divide us and we hope we're not throwing too much information here at you as we sip our latest cup having gone into the kitchen midway through writing this story to pour yet another cup and thank you for reading because that's the most important thing here.

Happy National Coffee Day. And we mean this quite Frankly.