I have two favorite brands of coffee.  Every morning, depending on my daily routine or my mood, I trade off between the two brands. Both brands I love, because they are very unique from other brands.  Today, I will talk about Community Coffee.

First of all, scoot on over to your two favorite social media outlets and link up with them!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/communitycoffeecompany

Twitter: www.twitter.com/communitycoffee

I have always been a huge fan of Community Coffee.  When I say always, I mean it.  I remember growing up and my daddy would talk about how he just loved that coffee with that Chicory flavor to it.  I can hear him now, smackin’ his lips, breathing in a deep breath and letting out a deep sigh.  Why the sigh?  For the later part of my childhood, I grew up in a small town in Central Texas, and any coffee with Chicory was not available in the area. So when we DID have it, it was a glorious day!

I never really knew what Chicory was or why it was so good to him, or why “I” even liked it!

A couple of years ago, I was in a local chain grocery store here in the Houston area, and right there beside the coffee isle was a FABULOUS set up of Community Coffee.  I think I went back to those awesome people four times for coffee while I was shopping.  They were such kind and FUN reps of Community Coffee – however, they didn’t have Chicory!  They gave me several coupons as well as coffee scoops, so I scurried over to the Community Coffee section to see if there was Chicory…. no such luck!

I was SO EXTREMELY excited when I found out that Community Coffee was sponsoring our transportation to the Houmas House Plantation outside of New Orleans.  Yes, I was the weird one on the trip – geeked over coffee!  Trust me, everyone was stashing and hiding the bags of coffee that we were given – as they should have.  Again, the coffee wasn’t Chicory.  Have you ever wanted to taste something so familiar and saturated with memories that you just aren’t satisfied with anything else?  I was there.

Part of the “Bloggers on Bourbon” crew at Community Coffee House (of course, I was taking the picture!)

A very long and exciting story short, it was not until I got back home (we’ve moved since my last hunt for Chicory), that I decided to hunt some down.  I toodled over to another local grocery chain, and I FOUND IT!  I was so excited, that I could barely contain myself.  So, at about 1am that night (well, morning), I had the best cup of coffee I’d had in a long while.

Then, I decided to figure out 1) what exactly Chicory was and 2) why in the world my daddy loved it so much, which in turn etched the same love in me!  I’m fairly sure I found my answer right there on the side of the bag.  Fairly sure.  Apparently, (from what I’m remembering and reading online) during the Civil War, there was a shortage on coffee.  Well, not just coffee, but manufactured goods and some imported or exotic agricultural goods.  Of course with coffee being a necessity for soldiers, when the French brought over coffee, they also brought over Chicory which served as a good substitute and additive to coffee (and tea) when coffee was almost nonexistent!  After the war, they continued the tradition, and in some places, the gourmet versions of Chicory coffee are served to compliment the rich flavors of French foods! (Mostly New Orleans and other places in Louisiana.) AND.. to add to it, Chicory has no caffeine, so blended with coffee, it’s more like half-caf!

Ironically, I also found this statement on Buzzle.com

For those wondering just where to get coffee with chicory, it is often unavailable in stores outside the Southern U.S.

Hence my problem finding it! 🙂  So for those of you who are now wondering, as was I, why my dad love the Chicory flavor so much, I have two conclusions.  The first one is because it just tastes so darn good.  It’s a great flavor that differs from other coffee blends you’ll ever taste.  The other thing is because my dad is a huge history buff.  I’m fairly sure he read about it one day, sought it out, and fell in love.  That, and we’re southerners – go figure!

From CommunityCoffee.com

For four generations, the Saurage family of Louisiana has owned and operated Community Coffee Company. In 1919, Henry Norman “Cap” Saurage discovered the secret of making this great-tasting coffee in his country store in Dixie, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge. He named his coffee “Community” in honor of his community of friends.  more…

All of this is great info for those of us who homeschool!  I plan on using it as an American History lesson for Kylie!

Would you like to win a bag of Community Coffee?  OF COURSE you would!  The good news is, Community Coffee would love to send one of my readers a bag of coffee!! (I’m not sure what kind you’ll receive, but ANY kind is a good kind from CC!)

ENTER TO WIN – Comments = entries
1. Visit the site, look around, and subscribe to the Community Coffee Newsletter! (1 comment)
2. Like Community Coffee on Facebook (1 comment)
3. Follow Community Coffee on Twitter (1 comment)
4. Tell me your 2 favorite parts about my review and history lesson (2 comments, one for each!)
5. Post this review to your Facebook status, tagging Community Coffee (1 comment)
6. Tweet the following – Check out @CommunityCoffee review #giveaway at 50in8 by @ljenator! http://bit.ly/cx4sWQ Enter to win! Please RT! – (Unlimited entries – 1 comment per tweet)

Ends Friday, September 17 noon central!

Thank you, Community Coffee for sponsoring our transportation to the Houmas House while we were on our Bloggers on Bourbon trip to New Orleans!!

Disclaimer: Community Coffee provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. All opinions expressed in this post are my own – and I liked it! 🙂