There's a sure sign the holidays are close in South Louisiana: the red Christmas Blend bag shows up next to the coffee maker again.

Community Coffee lists Christmas Blend as available October through December. It's a medium roast of African and South American coffees, with notes of milk chocolate, golden raisin and figs. A 10-count box of K-Cup pods is $9.99 on the company's online store.

## More seasonal cups to try

Fall flavors are still around, but not for long. Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Pie, a naturally flavored coffee with pumpkin pie, cinnamon and nutmeg notes, is listed for August through November. So is the new Glazed Honey Bun, with honey and buttery baked dough flavors.

For dessert lovers, Grandma's Sugar Cookie brings sweet, buttery notes to an 11-ounce bag of ground coffee for $9.99. Everything seasonal is sold while supplies last, so grab a bag before it disappears.

## Where it all started

This is a Baton Rouge story. In 1919, Henry Norman "Cap" Saurage poured free cups of his own blend for customers at his Baton Rouge grocery store, a little lagniappe for his regulars. People lingered and talked over those cups, and he named his coffee Community after them.

Cap later left the grocery business for coffee full time, even turning the horse barn in his backyard into a grinding mill. The company's first modern roasting plant opened in Baton Rouge, and a later plant opened across the river in Port Allen. Years before The Muppets, Jim Henson produced a series of TV ads for the brand.

Today, five generations of the Saurage family have stewarded the business, and it's still based in Baton Rouge. Its Community Cash for Schools program still supports local schools.

## Make it a tradition

Pick up a bag for the office, tuck one into a stocking or brew a pot for the family on Thanksgiving morning. It's a hometown cup with more than a century behind it.

Photo courtesy of Community Coffee.