passing values from scriplets to tags

hi, I wonder how to pass values from scriplets to any tags - custom or standard:

<%! String customers = "one,two,three"; %>

<c:forEach var="customer" items="${customers}">
<c: out value="${customer}"/><br>
</c:forEach>

doesn't work, ${customers} is null when I access it outside <%%>

I am sure there is some simple way...

I got it:

<%
String customers = "one,two,three";
pageContext.setAttribute("customers", customers, pageContext.APPLICATION_SCOPE);
%>